Oral History Interview: Jerome Wiese
Jerome Wiese Tim Meyers/Illinois Public Media
"This was put in the Rantoul Press a few months later. There are a few inaccuracies in that one. I never saw the hospital in Da Nang other than being a patient myself."
Jerome Wiese from Rantoul, Illinois felt compelled to be a soldier and enlisted in the Army in 1970, a few days after he turned 18 years old. He had to walk through a crowd of protestors to do it.
As a combat medic in Vietnam War, he tended to wounded soldiers and carried guns and ammo as part of his duty.
Wiese talks about his experiences in Duc Pho, drug use in the military, the “enemy” and what it was like to lose someone in battle.
He says the friendships made in Vietnam were indescribable, and he struggled in civilian life without these friendships.
Weise’s exposure to Agent Orange during the war resulted in prostate cancer.
Central Illinois Vietnam Stories - Jerome Wiese
Links
- Media Gallery: The Soldier’s Experience in Vietnam: Using Oral Histories to Draft an Historic Narrative
- Lesson Plan: The Soldier’s Experience in Vietnam: Using Oral Histories to Draft an Historic Narrative
- Media Gallery: What Are the Legacies of the Vietnam War?
- Lesson Plan: What Are the Legacies of the Vietnam War?