Bob Button calls his military career a "hat trick."

But the term, used to describe a hockey player who scores three goals during a game, doesn't go far enough.

The 80-year-old Jersey City resident served in all five branches of the military before retiring in 1989 and continues to fly his personal aircraft as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

"I wanted to try something new every time," he said.

His service started in 1945 when he lied about his age to join the Merchant Marine, which serves as the Navy auxiliary during wartime. He used his seaman documents to sign up for the draft and joined the Navy the same year.

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He attended boot camp in Bainbridge, Md., for about a year.

"When I finally got assigned a ship, they caught onto my age," he said.

Although he was kicked out for being too young, Button joined the Army Air Forces in 1946 and served with a night-fighter squadron.

After his service, he went to college on the World War II GI Bill, but when the Korean War broke out, he enlisted in the Army again.

"I always just wanted to be where the action was," he said.

Button was sent to Korea, where he served at Heartbreak Ridge, Old Baldy and Pork Chop Hill. He was awarded three Purple Hearts for being wounded in combat.

He conducted long-range patrols behind enemy lines and became such an expert in evasion that after leaving the Army in 1953, the Marine Corps hired him to teach officers what to do if captured.

He left the Marines in 1960 and was recruited by the Army Special Forces, as a sergeant major, and wore a green beret with a reserve unit before he retired. He had hoped to serve in Vietnam.

"They probably thought I was too old," he quips.

When he retired and his wife, Regina Ortenzi Button, let him purchase a small aircraft, he joined the Coast Guard, making it a "military hat trick," as he calls it.

Over the years, Button served with elite units that include the Army's 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division and the Army's Baker Company, 3rd "Old Guard" Infantry Regiment, the ceremonial unit at Arlington National Cemetery.

He held several civilian jobs during his career, including as public affairs officer for the Army and NASA.

At NASA, he worked with the experimental aircraft program at Edwards Air Force Base, where he met astronaut Neil Armstrong.

He also worked as a reporter for The Record, based in Hackensack.

Now his grandchildren are following in his footsteps.

Katie Button is in the Navy's nursing program and Frank Button joined the Army and is serving in Korea.

"He's in some of the places I was," Robert Button said. "He decided on the Army because of me."



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