Marine Veteran Optimistic For Greensburg’s Future
By Eva Wilson
May 2007
Marvin Lawson sat in a folding chair in his living room. His 100-year-old home in Greensburg, Kan., lay in ruins following the devastating tornado on Friday night, May 4. But that failed to quench the optimism of this 70-year-old Marine veteran.
Lawson situated his chair on a small, clean-swept area on the hardwood floor and told how he rode out the tornado. His home does not have a basement.
“I was right underneath that pile of rubble,” Lawson said, turning slightly and pointing behind him.
After serving in Korea, along with three tours of duty in Vietnam, Lawson wasn’t going to let a tornado with 200-plus mph winds take him out. “Hey, I’m alive,” he told himself after the tornado roared through the small southwest Kansas town.
Lawson’s neighbor, Justin “Bucky” Stone pulled him from the rubble. And this feisty veteran hasn’t slowed down since then. He was spending nights with a relative in nearby Ford, Kan. Lawson returned to Greensburg during the day to comb through the debris.
He remained upbeat as he searched through the rubble while stopping to talk with the media. “They’re gonna see Greensburg come back stronger than it ever was,” he said. “We don’t give up.”
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