You know John Malan as your local weather man. But did you also know he is a war hero? He served two years in Vietnam. It is an experience he rarely talks about. John told TMJ4's Shelley Walcott, "It changes your perspective on life. It certainly does." The son of a World War II veteran, John had no plans to join the military. A talented athlete, his plan was to become a major league baseball player. Right after graduating from high school in 1968, John was scooped up by the Pittsburgh Pirate's farm team. He was forced to leave after he cracked his ankle. While he was home recovering, the Army came calling. "I didn't have a college deferment like most of my friends did who were going to college right away, so they didn't have to worry about Vietnam at the time, which was pretty big." By the summer of 1969, John was in Vietnam, a member of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. He had to adjust to tropical heat, and dodging bullets. Said John, "There were no normal days. You wake up scared, you go to bed scared. You just deal with it during the day." And there was one day especially that changed John forever. His tank squadron, a unit of 168 people, was ordered to establish a perimeter in an area near the border of Cambodia. They unknowingly set up right over a North Vietnamese Army underground bunker. "So the first night we're there all of a sudden these guys come up from under the ground in the middle of where we had set up our protective area. And then there were also troops surrounding us." It was a bloody battle. A tank next to John blew up. "A big piece of that blew and a big, long piece stuck through my leg." Eighty seven members of John's unit were killed, including his best friend, Johnny Jones from Houston, Texas. John has visited his name on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. The battle earned John a Purple Heart. More medals came after John's stint with an aviation unit. He was shot down twice. John says his war experience made him a patriot, and taught him to enjoy every day that he is alive. "I want people to know me as the weather man. You know, I want people to know me as the guy who watches their weather, not their back."