Interview, George Wegman, USA

George Wegman (b. 1946) was born in Rochester, New York, and was drafted into the United States Army in January 1970. He completed basic training at Fort Dix, in New Jersey, and advanced training at Fort Ord, in California. Wegman specialized in light weapons infantry and as a clerk/typist and rose to the rank of Specialist 4. He was stationed in Vietnam from July 1970 to April 1971. Wegman was wounded by shrapnel twice in Vietnam and received a Purple Heart for his injuries. He was in the service for 1 year and 8 months and was discharged in October 1971. Wegman married just two weeks after leaving the military.

In this interview, Wegman discusses the two injuries he sustained in combat and notes that he receives disability payment from the military because of them. He tells about an incident in which the military misinformed him of his mother’s death when it was actually his sister-in-law who died, and shares another story about being sent on a mission to recover the bodies of soldiers who had died in combat, but not being told in advance that this was what he would have to do. After leaving Vietnam, Wegman completed his service stateside, where his job was to write letters and send medals to the families of deceased soldiers. He remembers that many of the families sent the medals back. Wegman shares that he wants Vietnam to be remembered not as a conflict, but as a war, and he thinks that all war is a waste of money and people.