Editor’s note: This is another in a series of brief profiles of the people who bring you the Morning Sun each day.
Marine, construction laborer, history teacher – Dustin Strong brings a broad set of experiences to his role of reporter at the Morning Sun.
A PK (preacher’s kid), Dustin was born in Great Falls, Montana, but was soon on the road with is family. The first stop was Fulton, Kan.
“I rarely spent more than three years in a given place,” Dustin said. “I started kindergarten in Fort Scott, but attended school in Topeka, Emporia, and two separate towns in Nebraska before coming to Pittsburg at 15, just before my sophomore year of high school.”
Because his dad was a third-generation bricklayer as well as a United Methodist pastor, Dustin learned the value of hard work early in life.
“Since age 5, I've worked off-and-on in construction,” Dustin said. “In high school, I worked for my older brother, a fourth-generation mason.”
After graduating from Pittsburg High School in 1990, Dustin left for the service, spending four years on active duty as an infantryman in the Marine Corps. Following his active duty, Dustin served for six years in the Marine Reserves, rising to the rank of sergeant commanding a mortar section of 30 Marines.
“While I was deployed in the military, my dad would send me copies of the paper from time to time, especially when something big happened —like PSU winning the national championship in 1991 — so there has always been an affinity for the paper,” Dustin recalled.
After completing his active-duty service, while he served in the Marine Reserves, Dustin worked for his brother again. He also enrolled at PSU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history education. In 2010, he earned a master's degree in history curriculum and course design, also from PSU.
In college, an English professor suggested to Dustin that he could make a living as a writer. That possibility stuck in Dustin’s head and in 2022, when the new local owners made it known that they were in need of reporters, Dustin applied.
“Between the infantry and construction, and getting close to 50, I needed something less strenuous,” Dustin said.
He added that the opportunity to record history as it was happening appealed to his love of history.
“I get to write the first draft,” Dustin said.
