Graig Crossley and Karl Davis arrived at military service from nearly opposite directions. Graig enlisted in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Karl joined the Army years later after growing up in a Berkeley family that marched against that same war. Both became educators, raised families and now serve Moraga together as members of the Kiwanis Club of Moraga Valley.

Graig can trace his path to the Marine Corps to one very specific academic problem.

“I got a D in trigonometry, and it was not offset by the A in philosophy,” he said of his freshman year at Chico State. It was 1968, the draft was real, and Graig decided he would rather choose the Marine Corps than wait to be chosen by the Army.

After boot camp and three months studying Vietnamese in Monterey, he was sent to Vietnam. He had been in the field about two weeks when his unit encountered the Viet Cong. Hours after helping carry a wounded Marine to a landing zone, Graig was hit himself and lost both legs.

A helicopter came in under fire and carried him to a hospital in Da Nang within an hour. From there, he went to Guam and then Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland. Asked about the care he received, Graig’s answer was simple: “I am alive.”

He returned to Chico State, studied in Heidelberg, Germany, and completed his degree. Heidelberg also brought him Sibylla, his wife of 53 years. Graig later taught history and social science at Richmond High School for 18 years, followed by eight years as an administrator.

In Moraga, Graig spent 10 years on the Town Council, twice served as mayor and participated on numerous commissions. A Kiwanian since 1979, he was named Moraga’s Citizen of the Year in 2015.

Karl’s earliest memories of war came from Berkeley, where he saw tear gas, National Guard troops and tanks in the streets during protests over Vietnam.

After leaving college and working in construction, Karl entered a Navy recruiting office hoping to serve on patrol boats. The recruiter laughed, so he tried the Army.

“What do you like to do?” the Army recruiter asked.

“I kind of like playing with fire,” Karl replied.

“Great. We’ll pay you to play with explosives. Sign here.”

That exchange launched a 30-year Army career. Karl spent a decade on active duty, another in the reserves while working in education, and returned to active duty after September 11, 2001. He served in Iraq and later worked with Special Operations Command and the Army Corps of Engineers. In Afghanistan, he oversaw civic infrastructure across six western provinces.

Karl does not romanticize the results. “That mission ultimately failed, but not for want of a lot of good people trying,” he said. Still, everyone under his command returned home alive. “That was not a bad way to finish.”

Military service also belonged to the family. Karl and his wife, Melinda, had three children born at three different duty stations. When 9/11 changed their retirement plans, they made the decision together. As Karl put it, “My wife stuck with me.”

After settling in Moraga, Karl joined the Design Review Board, served two terms on the Planning Commission and became active in Kiwanis. Within nine months, he had several invitations to get involved and, he said, “friends already.”

Graig has lived here since 1975 and describes Moraga just as plainly: “You can be involved as much as you want to be or as little as you choose. It’s a wonderful place to live.”

Their military histories span different generations, different wars and different reasons for enlisting. What connects them is what followed: education, leadership, family and decades of continued service to the place they call home.