Calvin Carithers was born in Pretty Prairie, Kansas in November 1927. He went to school. When he was old enough, he worked for his father. He had five sisters and two brothers. He always had a lot of respect for the Marine Corps. He went to boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. The training was hard. When he finished boot camp, the war had ended. He was sent to Quantico [Annotator’s Note: Quantico, Virginia] and then was sent to London, England as an embassy guard. They had a detachment in Paris, France, and Rome, Italy. He had to stand at the door and make sure the people coming in were friendly. They had eight hours on duty and 16 hours off. He lived in a hotel. Most of the destruction had been cleaned up by the time he got there. Some areas were vacant where some buildings used to be. It did not take them long to put the cities back together. The British and French were happy the Americans saved their countries. The citizens were very friendly. He went to Berlin [Annotator’s Note: Berlin, Germany] on a stop-over flight. There were seven Marines on duty in both Paris and Rome. There were 33 Marines on duty in London. They were stationed inside at the front door of the embassy. He was a corporal. He liked being a bodyguard for the dignitaries. They trained with the Royal Marines. Carithers became good friends with the Royal Marines. He was in the Marine Corps for four years and was overseas for two years.

Calvin Carithers went to Quantico, Virginia for more training. He then provided instruction for other embassy guards. He taught them what they needed to watch out for. The embassy was in the center of the city in London [Annotator’s Note: London, England]. Their living quarters were across the square. It was a good duty to have. He went back to Kansas after he was discharged. He went to work for his father. He used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment]. He met his wife in London. She was British. She worked at the embassy.