Veterans Corner - Harold Knopes

COLFAX– Local veteran, Harold Knopes, 85 joined the Air Force in 1954.

“It’s cheating, but I can claim that I’m a veteran of the Korean war,” Knopes said, “I went in 1954. It was declared over in March, I wasn’t even out of basic training.”

A veteran of Korea, Vietnam, and a couple of brush wars, Knopes went from Craigmont Idaho out of high school into basic training at Syracuse University to immersively learn Russian, spending 21 years in the Air Force as a Russian interpreter.

“I spent 21 years listening to Russians,” Knopes said, adding that he would monitor them on the radio.

Knopes stated...