The Good Life Magazine – July-August 2020

CELEBRATING 7 YEARS OF THE GOOD LIFE

Dear readers,

It doesn’t seem long ago that we (Dawn and Darren) took the risk and created the first issue of The Good Life Men’s Magazine. We noticed a need for a publication dedicated to the good work being done by great men in our community. We wanted to encourage and inspire other men by showcasing these accomplishments. What we didn’t realize is how far it would personally take us.

Through this magazine and our business, Urban Toad Media, we’ve had the privilege of meeting some of the most incredible people. It’s been such a reward to become their friends. Learning more about who they are, what they do and how they impact the lives of others has stirred our souls, and we couldn’t be more excited to share their stories.

Over the years, there have also been a number of surprising opportunities. We’ve had beer with the bishop, seen service dogs in action, spent time with Matt Cullen and ate donuts from the Stanley Cup, flown in the Sanford helicopter, been a SWAT team’s fake hostage, met Santa Claus and famous musicians (not simultaneously), toured haunted houses and funeral homes—the list goes on (and on). We’ve been allowed to have behind-the-scenes access to events and professions that have given us a perspective most people don’t get to see.

2 / THE GOOD LIFE

It’s a little overwhelming to think of how much has happened in 7 years and how much we’ve grown, both personally and as a business. There is no doubt we’re incredibly fortunate. It started out as a mission to give something good to our community, and our community has given us so much in return.

As many of you know, our writers ask each of our interviewees what living the good life means to them.

When we asked ourselves the same question, we realized we’re already living it.

For us, living the good life is enjoying the freedom to have our own business and run things as we see fit. It’s being able to experience the unique opportunities and adventures we’re given through our work with the magazine. It’s receiving love and support from our family and friends and meeting new friends along the way. And there is no good life without the good people in our community.

We are blessed and grateful to be able to do what we love, which is why we want to say thank you.

Thank you to our talented, award-winning writers whose individual personalities shine through the stories they craft for every issue. Your people skills and respect for

CELEBRATING 7 YEARS OF THE GOOD LIFE

others and their life experiences always leave a positive impression on us and your subjects.

7 years a blessing, an honor and a humbling experience.

Thank you.

Thank you to our advertisers for believing in the effectiveness of our publication. Aside from the incredible exposure your business receives both in print and online, you’re supporting the positive messages included in each issue of The Good Life.

We would like to dedicate this special issue to our veterans and military heroes. In our “Local Heroes” feature, we’ve included many military men. This issue is all about honoring them as we share their remarkable stories once more. We are forever grateful to those who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms. •

Thank you to our readers for picking up an issue and spreading awareness about our publication. Whether you have been with us from the very beginning or just grabbed your first magazine, thank you for encouraging us with your kind comments and for supporting us as a local business.

Dawn and Darren

Thank you to our interviewees for being willing and brave enough to share your personal story with the world. You’re the entire reason we started this magazine, and we’re so thankful for all the work you do to make our community a better place. You inspire us to live better lives and remind us that living “the good life” is all about helping others and making the world a better place.

Whichever category you fall into, please know that you have made The Good Life possible. You have made the past

Dawn Siewert

Darren Losee

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 3

CONTENTS JULY-AUGUST 2020 Volume 8 • Issue 1

2

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS THANK YOU TO OUR READERS

6

ERIC MARTS ARMY MASTER SERGEANT

10

BRYAN KUTTER MN NATIONAL GUARD STAFF SERGEANT

14

ART WILLIAMS ARMY VETERAN

18

BRIAN RICHTER SERGEANT FIRST CLASS

22

WILBERT SCHEFFLER ARMY CORPORAL

28

JOE WALLEVAND ARMY SPECIAL FORCES GREEN BERET

34

SHANE TIBIATOWSKI NAVY VETERAN

38

JASON HICKS ARMY VETERAN

42

MIKE GRUCHALLA VIETNAM MEDIC

48

WAYNE CASEBEER MARINE CORPS VETERAN

HONORING OUR MILITARY HEROES 4 / THE GOOD LIFE

PUBLISHED BY Urban Toad Media LLP www.urbantoadmedia.com OWNER / PHOTOGRAPHER Darren Losee darren@urbantoadmedia.com OWNER / GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dawn Siewert dawn@urbantoadmedia.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Soo Asheim Meghan Feir Alexandra Floersch Brittney Goodman Danette Nicoloff Wanda Perkins Alexis Swenson ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Darren Losee darren@urbantoadmedia.com

READ A PAST ISSUE yumpu.com/user/thegoodlife FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK facebook.com/urbantoadmedia FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @urbantoadmedia FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @urbantoadmedia

The Good Life Men’s Magazine is distributed six times a year by Urban Toad Media LLP. Material may not be reproduced without permission. The Good Life Men’s Magazine accepts no liability for reader dissatisfaction arising from content in this publication. The opinions expressed, or advice given, are the views of individual writers or advertisers and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of The Good Life Men’s Magazine.

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 5

LOCAL HERO | ERIC MARTS

Original publish date: July-August 2013

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: BOBBIE MARTS

www.yumpu.com/user/ thegoodlife

Where is he now?

Retired Army Master Sergeant Eric Marts has lived a lot of life since his story was published in July-August 2013.

Through Home for Our Troops, Marts and his wife were gifted a beautiful, mortgagefree smart home. The increased space and incredible technology have proven life-changing for Marts.

Marts and Corporal Deacon were invited to the 2014 State of the Union Address followed by several more trips to the White House to advocate on behalf of veterans.

Marts strives to show that despite being hurt, he (and other veterans) can accomplish challenging endeavors. As such, he’s kayaked the Yellowstone River, downhill skied, and completed elements of the Mountain Phase of training for U.S. Army Rangers which includes repelling down waterfalls and tackling a sheer, granite-faced mountain (Mt. Yonah).

Furthermore, Marts and his wife have established the Sergeant’s Time Foundation to host retreats in Park Rapids, MN where they envision veterans and non-veterans gathering to help one another through difficult times.

Corporal Deacon has since passed away though he left an imprint on individuals on Capitol Hill and beyond. Marts is excited to be working with Meadow, his new seeing-eye dog.

6 / THE GOOD LIFE

ERIC MARTS A Hero of the Heartland WRITTEN BY: DANETTE NICOLOFF PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

Persevering to Help Others “On your feet … at ease.” This is how retired Army Master Sergeant Eric Marts opens his radio show every Saturday morning on 970 WDAY AM. During the hour-long program called “Heroes of the Heartland,” Marts features area service men and women so they can tell their stories. He wants people to know what soldiers overcome and conquer when they serve. He said most who serve, “Are busy telling other people that they are heroes, but won’t accept the title themselves.” That’s especially true for Marts himself.

His Story Marts spent 20 years in the Army, 16 of which were spent active duty. He was a Gulf War veteran and went back again with the 34th Infantry Division when the United States invaded Iraq after 9-11. In May of 2006 his unit was near Fallujah, Iraq when he and his men encountered a roadside bomb. Although he was several yards away, the explosion was so powerful it knocked him on his back. He got up, shook it off, and went back to work.

ARMY MASTER SERGEANT

A few days later, he noticed the sight in his right eye seemed fuzzy, so he had it checked out by an Army doctor. He was told he would be sent to Germany for treatment. Marts refused. Not only did he refuse treatment but he talked his way back into combat. He told the doctor that regulations permitted him to stay if he had 50 percent of his vision. Marts said, “I had people to take care of. You don’t leave your men.”

Over the next several months, Marts encountered eight more explosions.

Each time he got up and brushed himself off. He said, “You just don’t complain about getting knocked around when your buddy loses his legs.” What he didn’t realize, is that he had suffered many concussions that were damaging his optic nerves beyond repair.

“You just don’t complain about getting knocked around when your buddy loses his legs.”

By the fall of 2008 he had lost all vision in both eyes. He spent nine months in a rehab center for the blind in Illinois, where he learned to adapt to his new life. He was even elected the unofficial mayor of the facility. He said, “I act like it hasn’t affected my life. The more I act like it hasn’t affected my life the closer I am to normality.”

“I act like it hasn’t affected my life. The more I act like it hasn’t affected my life the closer I am to normality.”

His Unlikely Career Path Marts was career Army and wanted to achieve the rank of Sergeant Major. His goals were cut short when he lost his sight. He was forced to retire and found himself sitting on the couch feeling useless. He didn’t want to retire. He loved serving his country and felt an obligation to take care of soldiers.

One day while listening to the Jay Thomas show on 970 WDAY AM, Marts heard an interview with a veteran.

Corporal Deacon urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 7

LOCAL HERO | ERIC MARTS

When asked what the good life means to him, he said, "I'm living it."

Thomas ended the conversation by saying he could talk to veterans all day. Marts knew a lot of veterans and thought if Thomas wanted people to interview he could hook him up. So he emailed Thomas letting him know just that. He had no idea that one email would change his life forever. Thomas called Marts and told him that he liked the idea of doing a show about veterans, and invited Marts to the station to pitch the idea. The next thing he knew he was a radio talk show host.

On his first show his guest didn’t show up. The rough start didn’t stop him from continuing on with his new career. With his trusty seeing eye dog Deacon or as he calls him “The Corporal” sitting next to him, Marts takes command of the microphone like he took command of his men while serving in Iraq. He uses the airwaves to tell the stories of those who served. He said, “There’s so much history out there that will never be known. The show isn’t about me it’s about them.” He also wants to 8 / THE GOOD LIFE

set an example for the men and women who come back from war, “You are still viable. Move forward for the guys who didn’t come back.”

Adapt And Overcome “Adapt and overcome” is a saying Marts uses, but they are also words he lives by. He has never lost his sense of humor. He heard his dog snoring and joked, “Just like a soldier. Give him 10 minutes and he will fall asleep.”

He laughed as he told the story about when he was brought up to the stage at a function and was turning his head towards a voice asking him questions. He later found out the announcer was behind him and he was talking to a speaker.

Marts lives with no regrets. His wife Bobbie and their five children may disagree with his decision to stay and serve out his tour, but he said he would do it all again.

He simply said, “It’s where I needed to be.” •

ARMY MASTER SERGEANT

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: BOBBIE MARTS urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 9

LOCAL HERO | BRYAN KUTTER

Original publish date: March-April 2014

BRYAN KUTTER

Sniper Cuts Military Career Short WRITTEN BY: SOO ASHEIM

www.yumpu.com/user/ thegoodlife

Where is he now?

MN National Guard Staff Sergeant Bryan Kutter’s story first ran in the MarchApril 2014 edition of The Good Life.

Since then, Kutter has transitioned roles to Director of Construction at Designer Homes where he manages field operations and home building projects. Kutter has continued to stay active with the Wounded Warrior Project through which he and his family were invited to attend a St. Cloud State University / University of North Dakota hockey game where he was honored as Veteran of the Game.

Other highlights over the past six years include lots of family time. Most notable were several family cruises with his family to Alaska, the Caribbean, and Mexico. With both of their kids heavily involved in hockey, Kutter and his wife spend much of their time traveling to games and practices as well as attending as many Fargo Force, UND Fighting Hawks, and MN Wild hockey games as possible.

10 / THE GOOD LIFE

•

PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY: BRYAN KUTTER

In 1996 Bryan Kutter was still in high school when he made the career decision that ten years later placed him in the sites of a sniper. One bullet changed Staff Sergeant Bryan Kutter physically for the remainder of his life and ultimately determined the end of a long planned and hoped for twenty-year career.

With a waiver approved and signed by his parents, Bryan joined the Minnesota Army National Guard when he was going into his senior year of high school. Joining his company for weekend training and drills, Bryan graduated from Fergus Falls High in 1997 and for the next several years between continuous training with the Army National Guard and deployments to Bosnia and Kosovo in 2002-2003 he worked for Menards, where he met a pretty co-worker named Amanda who became his wife in 2005, three weeks prior to shipping out for a sixmonth training in Mississippi

followed by what he expected to be a sixteen-month deployment to Iraq.

As a gunner on a Bradly Vehicle, Staff Sergeant Kutter was with his battalion in Iraq only seventyfive days into their mission of clearing areas of IED’s and securing a village from insurgents when he was taking the place of Commander Eric Marts seat up-top, purveying the area behind what the military refers to as the “Pope Glass.” Call it bad timing or just bad luck, but as he stood behind the Pope Glass with his arms folded, watching the action and movement below he heard and recognized the sound as the sniper’s bullet rang out from inside a Mosque hitting SSG Kutter in the left elbow, traveled up and through his arm into his neck and finally exiting inside the collar of his body armour. Suddenly the excruciating agony of being hit combined with the gush of blood bursting from his arm hit within nanoseconds.

MN NATIONAL GUARD STAFF SERGEANT

Kutter’s screams of torment brought his driver up from the second tier of the Bradley and within seconds Gunner Mike Felt pulled Kutter down into the bottom tier while attempting to stop the profuse bleeding with pressure and tourniquets as he called the Medevac’s for more help. One tourniquet broke, but Gunner Felt managed to apply the second tourniquet, then their Bradley driver drove to an outpost about a mile away. Amazingly with unimaginable proficiency, SSG Kutter was lifted aboard a helicopter within 14 minutes to fly him to Camp Taqaddum, Iraq, where his medical team attached an external fixator (metal bar) in order to keep Kutter’s arm stable. From Taqaddum he went on to Balad (Iraq) then into Germany where he stayed for three nights and two days.

Staff Sergeant Bryan Kutter’s long journey of pain, surgeries, physical and occupational therapies for the next several months were just beginning. After Germany, Kutter was flown to Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., then on to Augusta, Georgia’s Ft. Gordon’s Eisenhower Army Medical Center to face more surgeries and months of therapy.

DEAR, GUESS WHAT HAPPENED? Not wanting to frighten Amanda any more than necessary, Kutter practiced how to ‘understate’ his condition yet let her know he needed her with him. There is a seven hour difference between Minnesota and where SSG Kutter was able to call Amanda from and knowing that he would awaken her at that hour of the morning, SSG Kutter tried to sound as “upbeat as possible” in order to not send Amanda into a frantic worrying frenzy. Amanda was happy to hear the voice of her far away groom as she shook off her sleepy fog. As Kutter calmly said, “Well, there’s good news and some bad news.”

“Well, there's good news and some bad news.”

PHOTO BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

Now fully awake, Amanda asked for the bad news first. “I’ve been shot” Kutter said still trying not to alarm Amanda any more than he knew she already would be. Amanda sat listening then finally asked “what’s the good news?” And just as Kutter began to tell her “I’m coming home,” the phones went dead on both ends. While it was only a matter of minutes before their satellite feed was re-engaged and they were able to hear one another again, for Amanda it seemed an eternity! Once back on the line Bryan was able to finish his sentence and said “I’m coming home.”

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 11

LOCAL HERO | BRYAN KUTTER

Amanda Kutter, Bryan’s mother (Tamrie Kohoutek of Detroit Lakes, MN.,) and Bryan’s father, (Keith Kutter of Breckenridge, MN.,) all flew to Ft. Gordon to be with Bryan. Amanda was the first to arrive very late the same night that Kutter was flown to Eisenhower Medical at Ft. Gordon. It was after the surgery two days later that Bryan’s parents arrived. As an only child not being with him was extremely stressful coupled with Kutter’s medical team still were not able to determine definitively whether they would be able to save his arm or not. At this point, all anyone could tell them was that they were doing all they could. And after the first surgery at Ft. Gordon, the doctors inserted two plates, one pin and some 25 screws into his arm.

As the second surgery required more blood to be transfused into Kutter, he started to feel the worst he had felt since the beginning when he had been shot. At one point Kutter said “for the first time I thought I just might die.” As the medical experts prepared Kutter for his second surgery, this one to graft skin from his leg to the gaping wound on his bi-cep, Kutter was getting the last of five extra pints of blood needed for the surgery. He began to react violently with jerks and gasps. The medical team began checking all the lines hooked to Kutter one by one. Whatever was going on inside him was not getting better, only worse. Finally after several questions and checks with rechecks were going on a doctor in the surgical room simply said “when all else fails, return to the original path.” And with that the doctor grabbed the blood transfusion line being pumped into Kutter and unplugged it. Within mere minutes, Bryan Kutter felt his life had been saved yet again. They found the blood Kutter was having pumped into him for the surgery had bacteria in it that was causing him to basically shut down.

Some five months later, after being in an active-duty rehab unit at the Augusta Veterans Hospital and also in an out-patient wing at Eisenhower, Kutter was sent back home, to Minnesota. In August, Bryan and Amanda spent 12 / THE GOOD LIFE

their very first wedding anniversary together when Amanda flew back to Ft. Gordon to be with Bryan.

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME In November of 2006, Bryan was able to transfer home through the Army Community Based Health Care Initiative. During his continued rehab, Bryan went through Merit Care in Fargo (aka Sanford). Kutter’s

MN NATIONAL GUARD STAFF SERGEANT

PHOTO BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

last surgery was in 2007. Bryan was awarded the Purple Heart for and Bronze Star Medal for his service in combat.

Today Brian Kutter is retired from the Army with an Honorable Medical Disability and while he would never want to go through any of his ordeals ever again, when asked if he misses the Army, he doesn’t hesitate to answer “Yes. I miss my friends in the service and I think the mission we were on had merit.” When asked about the injuries he sustained and how they have affected him, Bryan says due to the limitations and obvious disability of his left arm he’s not as physical as he once was. Basketball, a sport he played often and loved he is not able to push to the competitive level he once could.

Golf is another sport he enjoyed but he rarely plays anymore nor does he go hunting as he did prior to the deployment to Iraq.

Yet, even with his disability, Bryan understands that he escaped what could have been a much worse fate in Iraq and has learned to appreciate a much calmer and sane lifestyle.

Living the good life for Bryan today is enjoying the extra time he has to spend with Amanda and their two children, Avery and Madison. • urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 13

LOCAL HERO | ART WILLIAMS

Original publish date: November-December 2014

ART WILLIAMS

Has Learned to Love The Good Life

www.yumpu.com/user/ thegoodlife

Where is he now?

Army Veteran Art Williams was the Local Hero in the November-December 2014 issue of The Good Life.

In the span of six years, Williams spent two years doing mission work with his wife in the Pacific Islands through the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, has recovered from knee replacement and shoulder reconstruction surgeries due to injuries attributed to his time in the service, and has continued to maintain involvement with United Patriot Bodies (collection of all local veterans organizations).

He recently started working with the Honor Guard to honor individuals at the Fargo National Cemetery.

Currently, Williams is in the process of joining back up with StarForce MEPS Transportation Service where one of his duties will be to drive new recruits to various locations for fitness and other required testing.

14 / THE GOOD LIFE

WRITTEN BY: SOO ASHEIM

•

No one is ever promised life will be easy. Or, that when we make decisions, we may want to consider the over-all cinemascope of our life. And not hastily decide a life-long changing decision when it is based on a few of our past performances. Or, during a time that might not have been our brightest or best moments in life.

For better or worse, often many of us do make decisions that eventually will affect us for all eternity. When we look back, usually many years later, we eventually recognize what led to that one all-time and life-altering choice shaking our head as we wonder what in the world was I thinking?

PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

The Best Intentions Art Williams was a Math major at Central State College in Ohio when he graduated in 1964. Art joined the ROTC while he attended college, so when he graduated and decided to join the Army, he knew that decision was one of the “right” choices he made as a young African-American man about to join the thousands of other young and eager college grads in the mid-1960s who believed in righting the wrongs of the world; where good always would win over evil and when necessary, fight for the idealistic causes of the day. Believing with every fiber in their bodies to what President John Fitzgerald Kennedy said: “ask not what your country can do for

ARMY VETERAN

you, but ask what I can do for my country.”

Like a pied piper, President Kennedy convinced an entire nation that “giving and volunteering” was the noblest and most patriotic ideal any generation of collegeage people could ever offer to do and pay forward in the name of democracy, apple pie and all that is wholesome in the world.

It was if some new brainwashing gimmick befell an entire generation of young people. Some slightly over 18-year-olds or barely over twenty-one year olds and just out of college graduates could be found standing in long lines at malls and in neighborhood parks began signing up to join President Kennedy’s newly formed American Peace Corps. A naïve and very young diplomatic core of volunteers offered their many talents and skills to cross southern borders into other lands as far away as Chile and Peru or fly across the seas and oceans in an effort to “reach out” to the masses of sick and often dying children, parents and elderly people.

With only the very best intention and usually with back breaking effort to teach foreigners how to farm, grow gardens, develop and build infrastructures within their villages and tiny towns.

Within a year, thousands had boarded buses and trains, drove in car pools or hitch-hiked to the nearest Peace Corps recruitment office to sign up for as long as three and four year “tours of volunteering” abroad. Many went to countries and cities they had never heard of before to lend their raw labor, talents and often minimal skills to the poorest of the poor who lived in filthy squalor, rampant with contagious diseases, drinking and cooking with polluted water. The infrastructure consisted of dirty, dusty streets half the year during dry periods and muddy pits when it rained. The Peace Corps volunteers worked tirelessly attempting to teach and train their host countries people how to function in a modern world so they too, might live beyond the age of forty-five.

During the same time frame, Vietnam was growing far beyond a mere political conflict. By the end of 1964 and into 1965, Vietnam was a hotbed of blown up villages and under-ground tunnels with a neverending cycle of North Vietnamese soldiers holding one single focus: take over

the land growing the main food supply for the southern hemisphere, rice, while simultaneously enslaving civilian women and children.

Those Who Defend Go After graduation from Ohio’s Central State College, as a Distinguished Military Graduate, both the Air Force and the Army wanted to claim Arthur Williams among their bravest and brightest. And while it wasn’t a split second decision for Art to make, because Art’s dad was who he was and Art wanted to be sure whatever he became it would be because he earned it himself. Art opted to stay “Army All The Way.” Life was complicated enough in those days for a black or multi-ethnic person.

Art recalls with bittersweet irony why he opted to take his ROTC Army Commission after he graduated from college and explains it this way: “My father was a well-known and respected Air Force Colonel who was a Tuskegee Airman” during World War II. I needed to be sure whatever I did, I would have earned it and it wasn’t given to me because of who my dad was. If I had joined the Air Force, especially before my father retired, I’m not sure I would have been totally certain something didn’t come my way because of who my dad was.” Art felt he could do well in the Army and he did.

For those who are not familiar with WW II history, Art Williams's father (also known as “Art”) was among an elite group of Officers from World War II. As a Tuskegee Airman, Colonel Williams went beyond his comfort zone to become a Logistician and advisor within the US Government and to other governments at the request of our government.”

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 15

LOCAL HERO | ART WILLIAMS

The Tuskegee Pilots were the only African-American pilots in World War II. Afterward the Tuskegee Squadron disbanded in 1949 and those who stayed with the Air force were shipped over to Europe and elsewhere around the world. After the Second World War was over, Colonel Williams was stationed in Germany. The Colonel, Art, his mother and siblings lived in Germany from 1949 until 1952. From 1954 until 1958 they lived in France, where Art attended a French School as the only American private boys school, until 1958 when another move was made. This time the move was back to the United States capital city where Art graduated from a Washington, D.C. high school in 1960.

Ohio Coeds and Co-mingling Art moved with his family when his father was transferred to Wright Patterson Air Force Base after Art graduated from High School. Four years later, Art finished college at Central State and joined the Army.

Colonel Williams, Art’s mother and siblings moved to Taiwan.

Art said, “I’ve been called a survivor” due to having “bounced around so much as a kid and as an adult,” while explaining as to how he views himself as well as life.

Art explained what he thinks by saying, “What I found is that many of us who have traveled and moved away from friends and family tend to become very flexible or wind up really broken. I learned to become kind of flexible.” Thinking about Art as an only son of a higher ranking military man, graduating with a degree in Math and then becoming a twelve-year military person himself, one might presume that Art might have a much higher tendency to be a bit ‘rigid.’ Art is a Mathematician. Generally speaking often there is no flexibility when computing the numbers end of anything. The answer is either correct or it’s wrong! Yet in interviewing this soft-spoken man, I never got a vibe that he is someone who is incapable of looking beyond or outside the scope of “procedure and protocol” so to speak.

16 / THE GOOD LIFE

“After my third tour I served as an Assistant Professor of Military Science at Virginia State College where I completed requirements for a Masters of Education degree. I was then assigned to Germany where I Commanded a Nuclear Capable Field Artillery battery.”

Flexibility means having the ability to reach an alternative plan that yields the conclusion hoped for.

Three Tours Into Hell After his college days at Central State College in Ohio, Art spent twelve years in a soldier’s suit. During those twelve years, Art spent three years in Vietnam.

He volunteered to go with the Ninth Infantry Division into Vietnam his first time and second tours; from 1966 until 1968. Art said, “as a Commissioned Field Artillery Officer, he needed to see it and experience what the troops experienced in order to understand what the soldiers he was commanding were going through and how they dealt with what they had to endure.” It was his way of learning how he could become a better Field Commander.

His second tour was during the Tet Offensive, known for having the “worst fighting.” As the Battery Commander in the Mekong Delta, his Division was Staff Headquarters during the planning of the invasion into Cambodia.

When his tour was completed after the second tour, he was shipped back stateside to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma to train for the Officers Advance Course.

Fourteen months later, Art decided to go back once more. The Invasion of Cambodia was during his third tour as he served with the Cavalry DivisionAirmobile. Art described it as the team that “does everything by air; helicopters primarily. The simple answer is to watch the movie Apocalypse Now.”

At the end of his third tour, Art decided it was time to leave active duty to return to civilian life. Art liked many of the places he adopted and made his home. One of them happens to be a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul where Art and Marie, his wife of the last twenty-nine years met. Art also liked Denver during most of the fourteen years he, Marie and their two children lived there. By the time they left, Art said he was definitely ready to move away. Too many people had moved into his little mountain town where he did more IT Tech and consulting work for many companies around the country.

Art and Marie moved to Fargo approximately four years ago. Art’s last gig was with Corelink Administrative Solutions as a Project Manager in 2010.

When I asked Art “so have you found where or which area or city you liked the most?” He smiled from ear to ear and said, “FARGO! It’s just the best place!” According to Art the West Fargo, Fargo and Moorhead people are “A-number One’s” in his opinion.

Art Williams is a Vietnam Vet and because of his experiences in Vietnam as well as the PTSD he’s suffered with, he feels for anyone who has the misfortune to have so much trauma in their lives regardless of when it happened. Art also visits and

ARMY VETERAN

volunteers at the Fargo Veterans Hospital as often as he can because he understands why some of the men he has helped get into counseling have waited for so many years. More often than not he believes many of the soldiers returning from conflicts and wars need to deal with their disorders immediately. Especially PTSD; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Knowing what he went through, Art believes this is a disease that will never completely leave someone and it most certainly can be fatal.

Art and Marie Williams are also members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Art, a grandson of a Presbyterian Minister and who was brought up in the Catholic Church, I wondered how such a radical “switch” occurred. Art’s simple answer was that for nearly 41 years he wandered around asking “why?” and feeling he was missing something. Then, during a job interview with the Vice President of a company in Minnesota, who happened to be a devoted member of the (Morman) Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints.

Art and the VP began conversing about how they felt and what was important in life for each of them. After a very long conversation, Art decided he wanted to at least go to a service and hear what they do. Art realized when the service was over the first time, he felt more at peace than he could ever remember. That was thirty years ago.

Art believes what many people feel; God just wants us to be as good as we can be and to treat one another with as much kindness and understanding as possible.

Art Williams believes he has found the good life. A military veteran who not only believes in his faith but lives it by the good deeds he does for others. Now he and Marie are living in a place Art says is the BEST EVER. •

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 17

LOCAL HERO | BRIAN RICHTER

Original publish date: May-June 2015

www.yumpu.com/user/ thegoodlife

Where is he now?

Sergeant First Class Brian Richter’s story was originally published in the May-June 2015 issue of The Good Life.

In 2019, Richter married his wife, Tina. They first met one another in Junior High and had reconnected in 2016 after losing touch around 1993. Tina’s three kids and Richter’s two sons remain in the Fargo area finishing high school, attending college, or working.

Currently, Richter is serving as the Company First Sergeant (1SG) for C Co 834th on a deployment to Iraq supporting the 34th Combat Aviation Brigade.

Upon his return, he’ll continue working full time for the MN Army National Guard as the Readiness NCO for C Company 834th Aviation Support Battalion.

18 / THE GOOD LIFE

BRIAN RICHTER

A LOCAL MILITARY HERO SHARES ABOUT HIS DEDICATION TO HIS FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND COUNTRY WRITTEN BY: WANDA PERKINS PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

Most of us have the luxury of awakening refreshed after a peaceful sleep in a comfortable bed. We sip our favorite cup of morning brew, listen to the morning’s news and enjoy a warm shower before beginning the day. Amidst the usual morning traffic frustrations and lengthy lists of errands, overloaded schedules and appointments, we sometimes take for granted the daily freedoms we enjoy and the great sacrifices our dedicated military heroes make each day.

Born in Fargo, SSG Brian Richter grew up in Hunter, N.D. and attended Dakota High School. Just two days after graduation, he left for Basic Training. “I decided early in my junior year of high school that I wanted to go into the Army,” SSG Richter recalled. “My first thought was to become a police officer and this would give me experience. I first

I LOVE SERVING MY COUNTRY. I HAVE BEEN THROUGH MANY THINGS, SOME GOOD AND SOME BAD. MOST OF THE BAD THINGS YOU FORGET. I’VE TRAVELED AROUND THE WORLD, SPENT MY 21ST BIRTHDAY ON A BEACH IN HONDURAS AND SNORKELED IN PANAMA. I WOULDN’T TRADE ANY OF THE EXPERIENCES THAT I HAVE HAD. BRIAN RICHTER

SERGEANT FIRST CLASS

PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY: BRIAN RICHTER

served in a Combat Support Unit instead of a Garrison Unit that normally performs regular police work on post.”

The training and schooling SSG Richter has received is extensive beginning with Military Police School in 1989. In 1992, he was no longer on active Army duty.

He attended Combat Engineer School in April 1993 and also served in the North Dakota Army National Guard for one year and then in the Minnesota National Guard in 1996. Following completion of the National Guard Small Arms Instructor Range Operations Course in May 2000, he attended Infantry Training in November 2002. He clarified he went through Sniper School twice. The first time was in March 2010, when he sustained an injury to his knee.

“ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF SNIPER TRAINING IS CARRYING A 75-POUND BACKPACK, ALONG WITH YOUR WEAPON, WHILE RUNNING OVER UNEVEN GROUND ON THE RANGE,” – RICHTER “Unfortunately, I blew out my left knee and had to wait until September 2011 to complete the course.”

Additionally, SSG Richter began training for deployment to Iraq in Louisiana, where he learned how to drive the Heavy Equipment Transport (HET) in September 2004. The day after Thanksgiving, he was deployed to Iraq. “My mission with the 778th Transportation Company was transporting vehicles or equipment into urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 19

LOCAL HERO | BRIAN RICHTER

and out of Iraq,” he recalled. “I spent about half of my time in the HET and half in a HMMWV gun truck doing security for our convoys.”

He sensed the imminent danger of driving a slow-moving vehicle across dusty roads where roadside bombs were always a possible threat. While serving in Iraq, he received an urgent message from The Red Cross notifying him of a family medical emergency back home. The next day he boarded a civilian flight back to the states after serving eight months.

In 2005, SSG Richter was working as the rear detachment Readiness and Training (NCO) in Moorhead, MN and had the opportunity to speak with wives of military personnel.

He answered difficult questions about why their spouses chose not to return home.

“ONE OF THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTIONS AND DIFFICULTIES THE MILITARY FACE IS THAT SOMETIMES OUR FAMILIES BACK HOME THINK WE DON’T CARE, WHICH IS NOT THE CASE. THERE IS A COMRADERY IN THE MILITARY WHERE EACH BRANCH STEPS UP BESIDE YOU. THERE’S ALSO AN UNQUESTIONABLE SAFETY RESPONSIBILITY AND LOYALTY TOWARDS YOUR FELLOW MEN AND WOMEN THAT YOU SERVE WITH.” Other than his Iraq deployment with the Minnesota National Guard, he was stationed at Fort Davis Panama following Basic Training and Military Police training. Then in October 1989, he was assigned to the 549th Military 20 / THE GOOD LIFE

Police Company (MP) and later in December participated in Operation Just Cause.

“For this mission, my duties were spread over several different areas which included securing buildings or roads, clearing buildings and doing raids in areas of town while looking for weapons and drugs,” SSG Richter noted. “While Panama was under martial law, we operated as the police force breaking up civil disturbances and riots in the jail in Colon until a new police force was established.”

One of the most rewarding aspects of military service for SSG Richter is the comradery. He confessed he wasn’t a good student in high school and didn’t have much discipline, despite all the efforts attempted by his parents. His advice to young men and women considering a possible military career is dependent upon on what career choice is desired and what an individual wants to accomplish. He added, “A military career will be hard, but it will be rewarding.”

SSG Richter diligently served our community during two floods. He said that one of the aspects that makes our community strong is the fact that everyone joins together when the need is greatest. “It is a sign of strength when families and friends come together to offer help. This is certainly not characteristic of all communities, where some simply wait for help to arrive,” he explained.

In addition to his dedicated service to his community and country, SSG Richter has yet another challenging role as a single parent to two sons, Austin, age 16, and Cody, age 12.

“I am fortunate to have a command that understands my personal situation and works with me to make sure that I have the time to take my children to their appointments and to attend their school functions,” he noted. Although he said

SERGEANT FIRST CLASS

it is a sacrifice to be away from his family one that requires significant coordinating he knows his sons’ needs will be taken care of.

my 21st birthday on a beach in Honduras and snorkeled in Panama. I wouldn’t trade any of the experiences that I have had.”

“There are many challenges to face during deployment.

These differ for each person,” SSG Richter stated. “When you have kids at home, like when I went to Iraq, you always try to get a little time to run over to the Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) tent. Everyone waits in line for computer time to video chat with family. I tried not to think too much about what was going on back at home so I could focus on my responsibilities there.”

Since 2002, SSG Richter has worked with the Army National Guard in Operations. His main responsibilities include reviewing training, scheduling equipment and resources, reviewing travel or pay orders and working with IT issues for his battalion for both full time staff and the regular National Guard side as well.

HIS SONS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN HIS LIFE, AND HE ENJOYS SPENDING AS MUCH FAMILY TIME WITH THEM AS HE CAN. SSG Richter also described his personal reflection of what he considers a hero. Without wavering, he named Chris Kyle, the trained Navy SEAL who wrote the best-selling novel American Sniper. The book was later released on film in December 2013. Kyle was shot and killed at a shooting range in Texas.

“I love serving my country,” he admitted. “I have been through many things, some good and some bad. Most of the bad things you forget. I’ve traveled around the world, spent

In December 2014, he completed Electromagnetic Spectrum Manager School (ESM) and is currently one of three trained ESMs in the Minnesota National Guard. This is specialized training that de-conflicts any interference and works closely with electronic communication and electronic warfare.

Even when our busy lives are packed with trivial daily annoyances, these inconveniences pale in comparison to the dedication and sacrifices our military personnel provide every day. For these true heroes that risk their lives to protect and defend us all, we owe a great debt of heartfelt appreciation and respect.

When asked what the good life means to him, local hero SSG Richter smiled and thoughtfully answered, “My idea of the good life would be cruising down a curvy road on my motorcycle while listening to Johnny Lang.” •

LOCAL HERO | WILBERT SCHEFFLER

Original publish date: March-April 2017

WILBERT SCHEFFLER www.yumpu.com/user/ thegoodlife

Where is he now?

The Good Life featured Army Corporal Wilbert Scheffler as the Local Hero in the March-April 2017 magazine issue.

Throughout the last three years, Scheffler has been busy working through his personal home library of books, continuing to eat blueberries for good measure, and celebrating his 90th birthday. For Scheffler, the highlight of the party was celebrating with nearly 100 of his friends and family. Local accordion player Albert Mikesh, whom Scheffler considers a personal hero, played music at the party including Scheffler’s favorite waltz.

22 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com

WRITTEN BY: BRITTNEY GOODMAN PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

87-year-old Barnesville native, Corporal Wilbert Scheffler of the US Army 7th Infantry during the Korean War, is a local hero worth getting to know. This reflective and grateful farmer and television repairman’s life was greatly influenced by his time in service in Korea.

Wilbert is the recipient of many honors for his time in service, including the Bronze Star, Korean Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Combat Infantry Badge and the National Defense Service Medal.

He entered Basic Training in 1952 at Camp Breckenridge, Kentucky. Wilbert described his fellow soldiers as “all farm kids, all the same people like I am.” After basic training, Wilbert said that where the soldier was assigned was “alphabetical”: “If your last name began near the beginning, you went to Germany. Mine was later, so I went to Korea. That’s that.”

During his time in Korea, one of his duties was guarding a prisoner of war camp. Wilbert explained, “We spent two years guarding prisoners. Years later we learned it was a leper colony.” He did not end up with leprosy. Wilbert was also struck by the poverty of the Korean people, especially the children: “What really got me over there were those little orphan kids — they were starving. How they survived I don’t know. Many soldiers threw crackers to them and they fought over them.”

ARMY CORPORAL

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 23

LOCAL HERO | WILBERT SCHEFFLER

He recalled one time early in the time in Korea: “I was so lucky … I was on the north side of Arsenal Hill – I moved out in the open so that I could see and I no more than moved and a mortar round came. I was buried under the rubble and dirt and I was protected. I was on guard duty all by myself. I was all alone and it was a bad place. But I was protected.”

Wilbert was dismayed by the lack of attention paid to the veterans coming back from the Korean War. With emotion, he said, “When I came back from Korea, nobody gave a darn.” But something happened in October 2016 that brought tears of joy to his eyes – he was one of the

24 / THE GOOD LIFE

ARMY CORPORAL

veterans selected to travel to Washington DC on the WDAY Honor Flight. Wilbert exclaimed, “The Honor Flight was like living in another world! People were so nice. And after the flight, returning home, seeing all those people at the airport when we came back, it got to me.”

During the Honor Flight, Wilbert met many people and saw much. He described being kindly wheeled around in his wheelchair by Mike McFeely who took him to the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial. Wilbert enjoyed his time with Tracy Briggs, Forum Communications and founder of the Honor Flight back in 2007: “We got along really well. I could say anything to her and she understood. She wheeled me to the Vietnam Wall, the Korean War monument, and the Lincoln Monument.” Wilbert then got up to get something from another room and returned to proudly show me the thank you note he received from Briggs, smiled, and said: “She’s a nice lady.”

When I asked Wilbert about the movie “Pork Chop Hill” he said, “It was a good movie. Gregory Peck is very good in it.

But nothing can accurately show what we went through.”

Wilbert says that circumstances and people saved his life while in Korea. Wilbert asserted, “Other people stepped in and saved me. I didn’t ask for any favors.”

One of those that stepped in was his best friend at war, Jim Cunningham, who assigned Wilbert to the Commo (Communications) Unit because of his knowledge of working with radios and other devices. Wilbert always had a radio: “I

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 25

LOCAL HERO | WILBERT SCHEFFLER

kept the radio going, guys loved the music. It helped us all.

I carried the radio on my backpack. I made a case big enough for six flashlight batteries and made it go 24 hours a day so that the guys had music. Music was just a lifesaver.”

One time Wilbert left his radio at the prison camp he was guarding. When he got back to his unit, it was gone, and he figured it was lost forever. Then Jim Cunningham said, “Did you know they shipped your radio, it’s in supply?” Wilbert explained, “Getting that radio back was a lifesaver for me. It was a Zenith. It was high quality.”

way to say ‘stay another day?’ He was kind of like Alan Alda from M.A.S.H., a young guy. I don’t know his name. I think he saved my life.”

Coming back from the war, he lived his life as a farmer and a television repairman on the side: “Back in the stone age, I fixed everyone’s television.”

Wilbert misses Jim Cunningham and communicates with a relative of Jim’s via email and letters. After the war, he became friends with fellow veteran, Dick Mosca, who was an officer in the Navy and a Minnesota highway patrolman who died a week before the October 2016 WDAY Honor Flight: “He accepted me for what I was. We would go to veteran’s funerals together. I really miss him.” A major reason Wilbert went on the Honor Flight was to honor Dick.

Another person whose intervention perhaps saved Wilbert’s life was the officer who decided to send him to the rear of the line during the Pork Chop Hill battle. Wilbert emotionally explained, "My best friend in the Army, Jim Cunningham, died on that hill.

Somebody was looking out for me."

Wilbert has been married to Mary Ann since 1976.

They have two children. Their son, Bill, works in the IT department at MSUM and who Wilbert encouraged with computers. His daughter, Peggy, lives in Carrington.

She has given him two grandchildren. Evidence of his pride in his children and grandchildren are in the many photos in their Barnesville home. Mary Ann and Wilbert are active in the Barnesville VFW chapter, where he is a Quartermaster.

He described the battle: “The last battle – out of the clear blue sky – I had about 40 points and I was supposed to go home. The guys with that many points went back in the rear. The Chinese hit Pork Chop and they were bound to take it, they just swarmed into battle. And then, us guys in the rear, we heard that we were going to counter-attack.

They lined us up. So many guys were so afraid, they just collapsed. They did not even have enough officers to make a company. We went to Hill 200, and they had decided to abandon Pork Chop.”

Wilbert’s son, Bill said this of his dad: “I think the war affected him in some pretty profound ways. He values all life and living and, consequently, none of our family members are hunters, which is unusual for this area. He often feels guilty eating meat. We grew up on a farm with pet cats, dogs, a pet chicken that lived in the house for a while, even a pet calf that roamed our farm yard at one point that he had to bottle feed to keep alive. He values home and hearth above all else and was never much for travel or similar excitement that most people crave after

And finally, there was a doctor at the M.A.S.H unit where he was recovering from a very bad fever. Wilbert remembered that the doctor asserted, “Stay another day. It’s really bad out there.” Wilbert thinks his chances of survival were greatly increased by that kind doctor: “My company went into it. It was really bad, but I stayed another day or two, and was saved.” He asked, “Why did a doctor go out of his

26 / THE GOOD LIFE

ARMY CORPORAL

he returned home. I don’t think any of us who weren’t there with him can ever fully understand what he saw and what he went through… As a listener to his stories, it is hard to process it all, I couldn’t imagine living through and surviving it. All he wanted was to be home and ever since he returned home, it’s where he wants to be and where he is happiest - surrounded by everyone and everything he values most.”

Bill continued: “We did not have a lot growing up but he’d still go the extra mile for friends and people in the local community by helping them with their TVs and electronics much like he did maintaining radio for friends back in Korea. Without realizing it at the time, I followed in his footsteps by continuing the tradition and helping people in my community with computers and still do even today in my free time.”

Bill credits Wilbert for his career in computing after his dad brought a very early Apple II Plus computer home one day for Bill: “I hooked it to one of the many televisions in my bedroom (one of the perks of having a dad who fixed TVs!) and it was love at first sight for me when I realized I could program it to do whatever I wanted.”

When asked about how he keeps all of these memories clear, Wilbert said, “I eat a lot of blueberries. It keeps your mind sharp.” He is proud that the only pill he takes is for high blood pressure.

When asked what he considered “the good life,” Wilbert thought a bit and said, “I don’t know ... After I got back from the war and I owned a farm and I was helping people with their machinery and television... That to me was a good life. All that I went through in the war and I was not wounded and I am alive. That is a good life.” •

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 27

LOCAL HERO | JOE WALLEVAND

Original publish date: May-June 2017

www.yumpu.com/user/ thegoodlife

Where is he now?

Army Special Forces Green Beret Joe Wallevand’s story was published in the May-June 2017 issue of The Good Life.

Wallevand remains a musician as he continues to learn and play classical music on the piano as well as sing the National Anthem on occasion. He recently joined the Fargo National Cemetery Honor Guard, participating in gun salutes to honor fellow veterans.

Wallevand is grateful for how he’s been able to better manage his PTSD through group counseling sessions at the Fargo Vet Center and a few one-on-one sessions of a counseling technique termed Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). He encourages fellow veterans to use the Vet Center as it has helped him so much and urges anyone who has experienced trauma to seek counseling.

Overall, Wallevand believes that it can be fun getting to know yourself better. Since life is too short, it needs to be good.

28 / THE GOOD LIFE

JOE WALLEVAND

TEACHER, SCIENTIST, POET, SOLDIER WRITTEN BY: BRITTNEY GOODMAN

•

PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

US Army Special Forces (Green Beret) veteran, Joe Wallevand served in the military for 21 years, taught in public schools for 19 years, and was a chemist for American Crystal Sugar for 24 years. In the Army Special Forces Wallevand served as a medic and also a trainer. When asked about any medical experience prior to the Army, he said: “I was a Boy Scout.”

Wallevand has three years of active duty and then served 18 years in the North Dakota Army National Guard in three different companies: the 191st Military Police Guard Company, 634th Service Company at Hillsboro-Mayville, and the 815th Medical Clearing Company Fargo-Bismarck, eventually attaining the rank of first sergeant for that medical company. He achieved the E-8 level before retirement.

ARMY SPECIAL FORCES GREEN BERET

Wallevand was drafted, then enlisted in the Army in April of 1965, completed basic training and then entered Special Forces Training, beginning with jump school in Oct of 1965 in Fort Benning, Georgia after completing his basic and engineering Advanced Individual Training.

In his youth, Wallevand described himself as an “egg-head” with high skills in math and a long-held fascination with parachuting, the military, and guerrilla warfare. Thus, the Special Forces seemed a good fit for his talents and interests.

Becoming a medic was a decision Wallevand made, at least partially, because of being involved in an auto accident prior to the service, which left him with guilt about “not being able to give proper medical attention to the elderly gentleman who died later.” He underwent 47 weeks of training, including 16 at the Fort Sam Houston medical school, nine of on-the job-training at an Army hospital, 16 at the advanced medical lab in Fort Bragg and six weeks of Special Forces tactics and techniques.

Wallevand explained that his Special Forces training involved map reading, irregular “guerrilla” warfare, infiltration, methods of instruction, defensive measures, land navigation, patrolling, raids and ambushes, sabotage, civic action projects, escape and evasion, and then the special skills training that Wallevand asserted that, “if I told you about that, I’d…,” which is a standard joke among service people. urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 29

LOCAL HERO | JOE WALLEVAND

Wallevand got his orders to go to Vietnam on Valentine’s Day, 1967 and arrived in Vietnam March 31. He was assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group.

In Vietnam, Wallevand was initially a junior A-team medic. He recalled being in Hà Tiên near the Gulf of Siam. He was told “don’t go too far down that road or else you will be in Cambodia and it will be an international incident.” One of his jobs was also to “go out to our airfield, toward Cambodia, and deliver any personnel or supplies back to our camp.”

Wallevand was to train some Montagnard people whom he described as “some of the first inhabitants of Vietnam” and fairly primitive, with large piercings and some with “bones in their noses”. He was called upon to jumpmaster a training jump for them. Wallevand explained that jumpmasters normally jump last from the plane. However, due to the Asians’ lack of training and language, he had to jump first as an example. Wallevand recalled, right before he jumped, looking back at the Montagnard people: “Their eyes are normally almond-shaped. But when I turned around all of their eyes were as big and as round as mine. They were scared.

It made me remember my first jump at Fort Benning, which was the first time I had flown in a plane.”

As part of a civic action, Wallevand handed out manual tools to the Vietnamese people – shovels, picks, and spades, to be used in the rice patties. He explained that “winning the hearts and the minds of the people” was one of the goals of the war. He remembered that the Vietnamese said, “Thank you, doctor.” To them, he was considered a doctor because of his medical training. Later, however, during the Tet Offensive, they had taken these same implements and built bunkers inside their huts.

Wallevand explained the “most successful” operation of his A-team, a month and a half before he was to return home: “We went into an area (restricted to us) to raid a small group of Viet Cong.”

His team collected a number of documents, weapons, and propaganda.

Wallevand said 30 / THE GOOD LIFE

ARMY SPECIAL FORCES GREEN BERET

Wallevand still has the Viet Cong flag that he retrieved.

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 31

LOCAL HERO | JOE WALLEVAND

An advertisement that intrigued Wallevand into joining the military.

“we did not lose anybody and killed eleven VC.” Wallevand retrieved and still has a Viet Cong flag and some propaganda.

Wallevand returned home from Vietnam in 1968: “I did not get spit on when I came back. A lot of my friends had very bad encounters.” Several years later, a colleague called him “a baby killer.” Wallevand explained: “At the time, I didn’t like hearing that and feel the same now. It is coming on my 50 year anniversary of going to Vietnam.”

Wallevand has been married for 47 years to fellow teacher, and fellow Concordia graduate, Linda. They are proud of their successful, creative children. Mike works for ThompsonReuters Find Law; Steve for Media Productions; Deb for Old Hat Creative managing promotions for NCAA sports teams.

Linda described her husband as “a real renaissance man” with talents in music, writing, arts, science and teaching.

They are both musicians. Linda has been a piano teacher for 40 years, while Wallevand sings in the local Master Chorale. Wallevand has an uncanny ability to figure things out: “In our little school system – he was the first computer teacher,” and Wallevand chimed in: “They just dropped a computer in front of me one day, and I just figured it out. I used to describe myself as a full service science teacher.”

Linda described their first date, while at Concordia: “It was in January and it was 20 below. We were walking on campus and I was freezing. Joe was pointing out the constellations for me.” Wallevand is an amateur astronomer and the couple has travelled to Canada to 32 / THE GOOD LIFE

witness and celebrate two solar eclipses and they will soon be going to their third event.

Wallevand currently does public speaking of many types and is active in talking with local students.

When asked, “What does ‘the good life’ mean to you,’ Wallevand responded: “The good life means peace and being with the people you love.”

Wallevand is reluctant to accept the title of “hero”: “You want to talk about heroes? My big brother was my hero.

But there are guys who aren’t here anymore - their names are on the Wall. There are the guys who came back from the war with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) who don’t know what to do with their lives so they end them.

Then there are the Agent Orange victims.” He goes on to describe local Vietnam War Medal of Honor winner, Loren D. Hagen, whom the new West Fargo American Legion is named after, a member of a special unit of Special Forces called the MACV-SOG. These soldiers engaged in

ARMY SPECIAL FORCES GREEN BERET

extremely dangerous missions without any identification – no dog tags. Loren died serving his country on one such mission.

Wallevand explained: “I’m sure I have PTSD. I don’t know if you could go through and see all the things I have, that anyone could, and not have it.”

A common problem for veterans of wars is “survivor guilt” - a term Wallevand described as “the feeling of not doing your part, of not giving, as Lincoln said in ‘The Gettysburg Address,’ the ‘last full measure of devotion’” – that gnawing question of “why did you make it while others did not?”

Wallevand continues: “If people want to call me a hero, I guess that’s fine. I did put myself in harm’s way for a greater good. But when you think of those guys on the Vietnam Memorial Wall, for the rest of us – the survivors – it is almost embarrassing to be called a hero.” • To reflect on survivor guilt, Wallevand wrote a poem based upon Percy Bysshe Shelley’s 1818 “Ozymandias.”

He wrote it after returning from a visit to the Vietnam Memorial Wall. He read it as part of his 2016 Memorial Day speech at our local Veteran’s Memorial Bridge: “Survivor Guilt” by: Joe Wallevand 2016 Along a watery pathway, Meeting in the middle: Two bold, black blocks of granite Stretch long upon the green, grassy earth.

And upon them written names — Seemingly endless list of names — Many the names I know — Chiseled in solemn relief.

I look for my name; I search the span of when I served.

I am not on the Wall — Where is my name?

Surely my name is in the mix; I was there, as were they, But surely as we all were there, My name surely should be here.

Had there been a million names Without mine on it; Had there been a wall with no names at all; Mine could have been on it.

What did they do to deserve to be listed?

What did I do to deserve being left off?

But my name IS written… written deep within me…

Just not on the Wall. urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 33

LOCAL HERO | SHANE TIBIATOWSKI

Original publish date: July-August 2017

www.yumpu.com/user/ thegoodlife

Where is he now?

Navy Veteran Shane Tibiatowski’s story originally ran in the July-August 2017 issue of The Good Life.

In the last three years, Tibiatowski has worked to maintain relationships with friends and Navy buddies whom he served with.

He has also transitioned to a new company, Peoples Home Equity Mortgage Lending, continuing to serve people through mortgage work. Tibiatowski takes great pride in giving back to those who give back and is especially thrilled that the company has expanded who they give back to and what they give back for.

He remains honored to be involved in the Homes for Heroes program and passionate about helping fellow veterans.

34 / THE GOOD LIFE

WRITTEN BY: BRITTNEY GOODMAN PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

Shane Tibiatowski, U.S. Navy veteran, has experienced the excitement of traveling the world on three different battle tours and even apprehended several drug running ships. However, for the last seventeen years, he has served a somewhat quieter, but satisfying role as a mortgage lending officer focusing on helping other veterans.

Tibiatowski is an award-winning specialist helping veterans own homes.

For 2016, Tibiatowski was sixth in the nation among lending specialists in the “Homes for Heroes” program. Through

the home loans he facilitated, he gave back $164,000 to veterans during 2016. And he proudly displays the big crystal trophy.

Graduating from West Fargo High School in 1990, seven days later he was in boot camp for the Navy in Orlando, FL. He said, “It sounds like a vacation spot, but it was not.” After ten weeks of boot camp during a very hot summer, he went to A School in Meridian, Mississippi, a place that he said “was even hotter than Florida. There was no cool breeze.”

NAVY VETERAN

In addition to serving as a damage controlman doing firefighting and ship preservation, Tibiatowski was also part of the security force, working closely with the Coast Guard. “We would go out into international waters near Mexico and Panama and board ships that were carrying drugs. There were yachts with helicopters on top of them dropping drugs. We had boats trying to outrun us and even to ram us. We were a strong steel ship, so trying to ram us just wasn’t going to happen. I experienced some interesting situations, some of which I can’t talk about.”

Tibiatowski describes boarding a yacht near Mexico: “They were trying to outrun us and throwing drugs in the water when we finally stopped them. We pointed all of our weapons at them. We watched the Coast Guard board their vessel. The smugglers’ hands were zip tied. They were brought aboard our ship and spent a few hours in a blocked off passageway as we did not have a brig on board. They were eventually picked up by the Mexican police.”

Tibiatowski then went to San Diego: “I chose to stay stateside and to be on the USS Chandler DDG 996 – a guided missile destroyer. I selected the Navy because I wanted to travel and, honestly, it paid the most.” He added, “Did you know that USS stands for United States Ship? Many people don’t know that.”

Tibiatowski said that one of “the scariest moments” of his service was when an Iraqi aircraft was within 26 miles of his ship and enemy aircraft are not allowed to get within 32 miles of a USS: “We had this Iraqi aircraft coming straight towards us and we were literally seconds from letting our missiles go. Usually when you are out at sea you don’t have something like that happen. But when you have someone coming at you, it is different.”

Stationed out of San Diego, Tibiatowski went on several Western Pacific deployments (WESTPACs) from 1990-1994 on the USS Chandler and stopped at many ports all over the world, including Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, and more. He added, “In addition to the work, we did also get to have some necessary stress relief and fun on the way, stopping in Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii.”

His first WESTPAC was during Operation Desert Storm from JanuaryJuly 1991 and the second was from June 1993 - January 1994. During that time he was part of the Battle of Mogadishu – Operation Gothic Serpent.

“Because of my time in the service, I am more focused.

I treat my everyday life with focus. My kids may say that some days I act like a drill sergeant. Discipline is still a big thing for me.” – Tibiatowski

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 35

LOCAL HERO | SHANE TIBIATOWSKI

Off the coast of Iraq, Tibiatowski was on watch duty looking for mines in the water using night vision goggles: “There are different kinds of mines; some of them are chained to the bottom. There are mines with chemical heads floating in the water. The Iraqi men would throw dead sheep and goats in the water and they would eventually bloat. They would turn upside down and all four legs would stick up. So you would not know what that was in the water.

Is it a mine? Mine watch was …. interesting.”

He remembered a naval recruiter who was “hot after me to sign up. He went to my sporting events. He really pushed. And 90 percent of what he told me about what to expect was, quite frankly, crap. But he was good. Well, on my last trip to the Persian Gulf, guess who I ran into sitting at a bar? Yes, my recruiter. I sat next to him and told him, ‘Sir, you are one hell of a good liar.’”

Tibiatowski saw much of the world: “By the time I was 22 years old, I had been to Hawaii five times, and also been to Guam, Sri Lanka, India, Diego Garcia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, up and down the coast of Mexico and all over the UAE.” But the travel weighed on this family man. His first daughter, Morgan, came after his second WESTPAC. Tibiatowski said, “Although I loved the Navy and wanted to stay, being away from my family that much was hard on me. I was at sea every holiday for one reason or another.” Tibiatowski’s desire to be there for his family drove him to leave the service, retiring with a rank of E4. He was up for E5 but said, “I knew I was leaving and decided to make room for someone else.”

Tibiatowski has four daughters and four sons, ranging from ages 6 to 23. Two of his children are considering military service, but he says, “It is up to them.

I would not sway them.”

Part of his service included humanitarian work in third world countries involving construction. Tibiatowski asserted: “It is important to give back. I show my kids that humanitarianism is important.”

“We had boats trying to outrun us and even to ram us. We were a strong steel ship, so trying to ram us just wasn’t going to happen. I experienced some interesting situations, some of which I can’t talk about.” – Tibiatowski

36 / THE GOOD LIFE

Tibiatowski has gained perspective: “I look back at my time on the ship, and everything was arranged and done so strategically. Our young, naïve crew was trained well and we discovered just how important every single role on the ship was. As I sit back and look at it 27 years later, there were so many reasons behind how it was done. It was a big deal.”

His Navy friendships are valued: “I made many life-long friends in the Navy. We had a reunion last July. I keep in touch with a few of them. I’ve done mortgage loans for a few of them. The ties are strong. It’s a brotherhood.”

Tibiatowski recollected: “When I went into the military, I was arrogant. I had excelled at sports. But when I got to boot camp, I got knocked down a few notches. Right away, they show you that you belong to the government. It is a humbling experience – the discipline – everything from making the bed to how you fold clothes. I still fold my clothes the way I did in the military. Being from North Dakota, you go into it with a good work ethic. But I did not know

NAVY VETERAN

what to expect. At both boot camp and A School I was thinking ‘Holy cow... Am I really in this? Can I really do this?’ But then you get to use the skills they taught you. The discipline learned in the Navy has set me up for even more success than I imagined I could ever have. Because of my time in the service, I am more focused. I treat my everyday life with focus. My kids may say that some days I act like a drill sergeant. Discipline is still a big thing for me.”

He ran into his commanding officer years after he left the service: “I got to tell him what he did for me. Although he was awfully hard on me, it helped me be the sailor that I was and the man that I am.”

It all comes full circle: “The biggest thing for me, in the position that I had in the military and now having this job is to be able to give back to veterans. It is huge for me, because I know that a lot of them get taken advantage of. I want them to get into the home they deserve for the right price and the right interest rate. VA loans are amazing. There are many great advantages that many veterans do not know about.”

When asked what the phrase “the good life” means to him, Tibiatowski enthusiastically answered: “’The good life’ means being healthy, happy and able to provide for my family. I don’t need to be a millionaire or go on exotic vacations. I enjoy being able to give back — to be able to watch my kids grow and be healthy. To me that’s the good life. It’s having my family – I love that.”

Finally, I asked Tibiatowski if, going back in time, and given the choice to again join the Navy, if he would do it and he said: “Absolutely. Without any doubt, I would do it again.” •

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 37

LOCAL HERO | JASON HICKS

Original publish date: May-June 2018 SELFLESS SERVICE IS THE MOTTO FOR

JASON HICKS

www.yumpu.com/user/ thegoodlife

Where is he now?

The Good Life featured Army Veteran Jason Hicks as the May/June 2018 Local Hero.

In the past few years, the biggest change for Hicks has been that in his role as Commander of the United Patriotic Bodies of Fargo-Moorhead. He was part of the group effort that transitioned the organization to take over all funerals at the Fargo National Cemetery. Aside from that, he remains proud of his two kids who are currently serving in the MN National Guard.

Hicks continues to enjoy life in the country citing that there’s always something to do. His latest endeavor is raising chickens which he likes to joke qualifies him as a rancher.

WRITTEN BY: ALEXANDRA FLOERSCH PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

Jason Hicks’ life motto is pretty simple: "If you take care of your people, they will take care of you.”

If you take care of your people, they will take care of you.

While his oldest brother is a prison guard, his sister runs a nursing program and his other brother is a fireman, the Clay County investigations and narcotics detective can’t pinpoint what drove him and his siblings into careers of service.

After all, neither of their parents had.

38 / THE GOOD LIFE

But that’s not the case when it comes to military service, where there’s a very visible link.

“Pretty much every male on my dad's side of the family – and my wife's side, for that matter – have all served. The only one who didn't was my brother, the fireman, because he had asthma," Hicks said.

In fact, the Glyndon native himself joined the Army immediately after high school at just 19 years old. And, as life would have it, that undeniable pride for his

ARMY VETERAN

country would rub off on his three children in the years to come.

His son, Hunter, 22, recently completed his Army contract while his 18-year-old daughter, Macie, just finished her advanced training for the Army National Guard combat medic school at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

"My daughter Macaila (Macie’s twin) would have signed up in a heartbeat, but she has some health problems,” he explained. “It really hurt her but she can serve in other ways.”

Army Experience Paved the Way In the Army, rules, structure and loyalty define your life.

"The one thing the military really nails into people is selfless service, guaranteeing you're not always going to like what you're doing, but you're going to do it anyway because the mission comes before yourself,” explained Ray Pizarro, having known Hicks for 21 years and serving overseas together. “And the mission is righteous.”

It was that mentality that Hicks led with as an infantryman and platoon sergeant during his deployments to Germany – where he was sent to the Persian Gulf War – and Bosnia for a peacekeeping mission in 2003.

"Jason never cared about his career more than he cared about his men," Pizarro said. "He put us before himself, meaning if bad news came down the pipe and he had to pick a couple of volunteers to go do something rotten, instead of picking two, he'd pick one and do it with them.”

It was that unique style of leadership that allowed Hicks to build both trust and rapport with his unit.

"There wasn't a single task that was ever questioned,” Pizarro said. “People would line up, urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 39

LOCAL HERO | JASON HICKS

saying, 'What do you need me to do? I'll do it.' Because they knew he would suffer with them.”

Getting his first taste of leadership while serving his country molded Hicks into the person he is today – one who bleeds red, white and blue.

"I saw the best and worst of people. It's something that I learned from," he said. “Some people talk about how great other places are. But having seen first, second and thirdworld countries, there's no doubt that we're it. I will never apologize for being an American. And I never have."

Giving Back A story all too common among soldiers, Hicks admits to having had a difficult time adjusting when he first returned from overseas.

"That's probably one of the biggest reasons I focus on the veterans groups... I can relate," he said. "There's always something bigger than yourself – so many things we can do to make this better for everybody.”

Having been involved with the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) since 1993, Hicks became one of the youngest commanders during his first term from 1998-2000, and later served a second term from 2010-2014.

Currently, he’s most active with the color guard, marching in parades, conducting flag presentations and teaching flag etiquette to kids. If it isn’t obvious at first sight, Pizarro says Hicks’ dedication shines through when honoring Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN – an organization that sends area veterans to their memorials in Washington D.C., free of charge.

“He’ll say, 'It's going to be super hot. We're on the runway but you're going to be in uniform and represent the VFW because the VFW represents these guys. I don't want to hear any shake and bake about how awful it's going to be.

We're going to do it for the honor of these people,'" Pizarro explained. “And we’ll do it with a gracious heart.”

Respect is hard to come by but perhaps it’s the bond that only service members can attest to – the “brotherhood" as Hicks says – that makes it all worth it.

"It wouldn't matter if you're a Korean War veteran or a war on terrorism vet, you all have that (bond),” Hicks said. “For example, there's a guy at the Fargo VFW and he was with the 7th infantry regiment of the 3rd infantry division... so was I. So we salute each other with our motto. He's a Korean War vet and I'm – what? – a third of his age? It's really cool."

40 / THE GOOD LIFE

Serving … with a Badge Hicks retired from Army in 2007 but he has continued serving in other ways. After graduating from Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) with a degree in criminal justice, the veteran started his law enforcement career in Dilworth as a part-time patrolman. But it wasn’t long before he was hired at the West Fargo Police Department, where he scored a position as narcotics investigator after just a year in.

"That's something I had always wanted to do and it was just wild. That was at the height of the big meth push – when they were making meth and had meth labs everywhere,” he said. “We could literally work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There was always stuff to do.”

From small, marijuana paraphernalia arrests to a multipound methamphetamine busts, Hicks worked an endless amount of cases.

"The thing with drug work – and I say this to everybody – if you're doing it right, within about three years, you're burnt out and you don't want to do it anymore," he said.

When that time came, he applied at the Clay County Sheriff’s office as a patrolman and soon worked his way into an investigative position once again – one he has held for the past 10 years.

"I’ve worked cases from a simple burglary to homicide, sexual assault, home invasion – all this crazy stuff,” he said. "I've worked some really unusual cases.”

As with any job, the role of an investigative detective has its ups, downs and undeniable stressors.

“You get a little burnt out sometimes and you have to find other ways to focus," Hicks says.

ARMY VETERAN

For him, that usually means not only taking warranted time off work but also exercising.

"It helps clear your head,” he says. “Don't get me wrong, I'm not a marathon runner or anything. I like long walks and things like that – the same stuff I did in the Army, except I'm not carrying a rucksack and a rifle.”

At the end of the day, one recurring assumption still surprises Hicks.

“After people sit down and talk to me, they never believe that I'm a cop. It just makes me laugh," he said. "I'm about as normal of a person as there is. I don't have magic powers.”

Living “out in the sticks” with his wife, Peggy, of 27 years, is where Hicks finds solace outside of work, enjoying the livestock, peace and quiet. Be it hunting, fishing for “anything that bites” or relishing in Minnesota’s snowy winters, Hicks cherishes the great outdoors.

But what exactly defines “the good life”?

"Being able to wake up in a country that's free," Hicks said. "Just the everyday freedoms that we enjoy as Americans. Not everyone has it. The good life is being an American." • urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 41

LOCAL HERO | MIKE GRUCHALLA

Original publish date: September-October 2019

www.yumpu.com/user/ thegoodlife

Where is he now?

Nearly a year has passed since Vietnam Combat Medic Mike Gruchalla’s story was published in the September-October 2019 issue of The Good Life.

Gruchalla was scheduled to go on the April 2020 Honor Flight as a volunteer, but the trip was canceled due to coronavirus restrictions.

A dedicated gardener, Gruchalla understands the importance of seasons of rest. As such, he is allowing the garden to rest this year and isn’t sure if he’ll be doing any canning this fall. His current focus is on the herbs he’s planted. All in all, Gruchalla maintains that life is still good despite the coronavirus.

MIKE GRUCHALLA

From the midwest to Vietnam and back, Mike Gruchalla’s focus has always been doing his job well and fiercely serving others WRITTEN BY: ALEXIS SWENSON

When Mike Gruchalla arrived in Saigon, Vietnam on January 11, 1970, he hit the ground rolling - literally.

“As soon as we touched down at the airport base ... the Viet Cong started mortaring us. The airplane got to the end of the runway, started taxiing back, lowered the back ramp on the airplane ... we exited while the airplane was still taxiing ready to take off. So, I hit the ground rolling,” explained Gruchalla.

Merely seven months prior the 19-yearold had been drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. “I drafted and then I enlisted [in the Army] because my older brother had gone AWOL. I figured that if I enlisted and volunteered to be a medic and got sent to Vietnam, it would keep my brother out of Vietnam,” said Gruchalla.

Gruchalla volunteered to be a medic simply because he knew they were needed and assumed it would send him to Vietnam.

In August 1969, Gruchalla left for Fort Lewis, Washington to complete

42 / THE GOOD LIFE

•

PHOTOS BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

basic training followed by Advanced Individual Training (Gruchalla’s medic training) in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. After the abbreviated training, Gruchalla went home for Christmas leave and arrived in Vietnam on January 11, 1970.

Life in Vietnam Gruchalla felt life at base camp was far less appealing than getting out in the field and often volunteered for patrol with any group that wanted a medic.

“I didn’t like being at base camp where I had to have spit-shine shoes, a pressed uniform; I wanted to do my job,” said Gruchalla.

This willingness to go out with anyone — Koreans or other allies — exposed Gruchalla to extremely dangerous situations. In the course of nearly 2 years, Gruchalla found himself in 15 different tunnels, being shot, surviving four helicopter crashes, and being run over by a tank.

Earning the Combat Medical Badge Medal Most memorably, Gruchalla cites the event that earned him the Combat

VIETNAM MEDIC

“

That badge says I did my job. I think I did it well. I wish I could have saved more, but there’s only so much you can do.”

– Mike Gruchalla

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 43

LOCAL HERO | MIKE GRUCHALLA

Medical Badge Medal, because, “there were only 2,231 combat medic badges awarded in Vietnam.”

the flag from that firebase inside his shirt. And, I have that flag today,” said Gruchalla.

“On July 2nd, I was sent out to a firebase ... The night of the 2nd, we got attacked. When the attack started the enemy was playing Johnny Cash, Charlie Pride, and other country songs over loudspeakers in the jungle. Over a period of five or six hours, we threw everything at them we had. We even lowered the guns and fired beehive rounds (155 howitzer with seal darts), said Gruchalla.

According to the American War Library, the Combat Medical Badge Medal was established to recognize medical personnel who experienced combat while providing medical assistance to wounded personnel.

“... I was dragging a wounded soldier into the command bunker with the help of another guy. A satchel charge went off in front of us, blew me into the tunnel, and as soon as I got into that tunnel, they blew it. That sealed the entrance.

“There were 38 of us in the bunker and we called in an A-B52 strike on our position. When it was all done, 63 GI’s died. 38 of us got off. I was number 38.

“When we got dug out, it was my job to tag and bag the 63 guys. The first guy that I tagged and bagged was the guy that was helping me with the wounded man. He had 44 / THE GOOD LIFE

“That badge says I did my job. I think I did it well. I wish I could have saved more, but there’s only so much you can do,” said Gruchalla.

Gruchalla’s Medals Gruchalla also received a Purple Heart Medal, a Bronze Star Medal, and a Silver Star Medal, but the only paperwork he has is for the Combat Medical Badge Medal.

“When I came home from Vietnam, it took me 4 months to get my things … They were going through and taking things out ... because they made references to where I was,” explained Gruchalla.

Gruchalla reasons that the paperwork was confiscated

VIETNAM MEDIC

“

It hurt at first, but it doesn’t matter now. My dad saw my medals and that’s all that counts.”

– Mike Gruchalla

because he carried out some of his work in Cambodia and Laos – a direct violation of international law.

“We weren’t supposed to be there,” said Gruchalla.

Per military rules, an individual is allowed to wear their medals if they have paperwork to verify earning them. As such, Gruchalla continues to be denied from wearing the medals. Initially frustrated, he has now reached a resolve of sorts.

“It hurt at first, but it doesn’t matter now. My dad saw my medals and that’s all that counts,” said Gruchalla.

Coming Home Despite diligently doing his job to help fellow soldiers, Specialist Spc. 4 Gruchalla’s homecoming was characterized by a negative public perception of Vietnam veterans. “... On the flight from Minneapolis to Fargo, the only seat that was available was first class. There was a guy sitting in the window seat next to me. As soon as the plane took off, he went and sat with the stewardesses; he didn’t want

to sit by a Vietnam vet. When we landed in Fargo, nobody got off the plane until I did. They all waited at the back of the baggage claim area until I got my bag and walked out the door,” said Gruchalla.

In the following weeks, Gruchalla determinedly attempted to register for college.

“I dressed the part – bell-bottoms, shirt with puffy sleeves, the beads, the whole thing. But, I went up to the registrar's office and pretty much got chased off of Moorhead State.

I had short hair, I was a Vietnam vet, I was a ‘baby killer’, said Gruchalla.

“I went home. I spent four months in my folks’ basement growing out my hair. I didn’t go out for anything because I didn’t know if I would be accepted for having medium length hair,” said Gruchalla.

A Continued Medical Career Eventually, Gruchalla acquired a job in the medical field, continuing to care for hurting people. For 10 years, he worked at Dakota Hospital for orthopedic surgeons.

Then, he spent the next 27 years at the Fargo VA Hospital urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 45

LOCAL HERO | MIKE GRUCHALLA

working in the operating room.

Gruchalla saw firsthand how much of what the medics learned in Vietnam was put into practice on American soil.

“It was a slow process, but it went from ambulances basically being a meat wagon ... to someone riding in the ambulance able to initiate medical treatment. And, with that, the use of helicopters to transport because we found out in Vietnam that we only had basically an hour before things would permanently die,” said Gruchalla.

“My Lives as a Medic” At the consistent urging of a VA doctor and Gruchalla’s now-wife, Gruchalla authored a book outlining the stories he carries from the Vietnam War. He was reluctant at first, in part due to his dyslexia which made the writing process challenging, though he’s glad now that he wrote it.

“My Lives as a Medic: A Soldier’s Journal in Vietnam” provides a raw, honest memoir of Gruchalla’s experience in the Vietnam War. Giving Back Today Gruchalla wasn’t always involved - or invited - into veterans organizations.

46 / THE GOOD LIFE

“When I first came home, the VFWs and the American Legions called me ... they both told me they didn’t want me. ‘Vietnam was not a war ... we don’t want the Vietnam vets’,” said Gruchalla.

Many years later, prompted by the positive change in the public’s view of Vietnam veterans, Gruchalla joined the VFW, AM Vets, Disabled American Veterans, and Vietnam Veterans of America.

Gruchalla helps the Vietnam Veterans of America with their 5K and 10K races as a crossing guard and is involved

VIETNAM MEDIC

with the Fargo Moorhead Vietnam Veterans Week in May. Furthermore, for the past four years, Gruchalla has volunteered with the Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN, a nonprofit created solely to honor America’s veterans for their sacrifices. He assists in Honor Flight fundraising events and has been the cook for the past 2 years.

Helping with the Honor Flight is a rewarding experience for Gruchalla, and his favorite part is “just seeing the veterans as they see the memorials.”

The Good Life “In spite of being diagnosed with cancer and having a stroke, I’ve had a good life. And, most people would say a good life ... with friends and family. ... I have associations and acquaintances because in Vietnam I learned that you don’t want to be friends with anybody because when friends die, it hurts.

When we acquaintances die, it’s not as bad,” said Gruchalla.

Undoubtedly, the Vietnam War played a large role in Gruchalla’s life although he’s not solely defined by his years serving. Rather, his life in whole is a greater representation of his values.

When looking at Gruchalla’s experiences, it is evident that in enlisting to protect his brother, working as a Combat Medic, 37 years in the medical field, writing a book, and volunteering with veterans organizations, his primary focus has always been caring for others. “... I wouldn’t change a thing. It was meant to be. And, like I said, it’s been a good life,” said Gruchalla. • “My Lives a Medic: A Soldier’s Journal in Vietnam” can be purchased by emailing: pmatsonr@hotmail.com

urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 47

LOCAL HERO | WAYNE CASEBEER

Original publish date: March-April 2020

www.yumpu.com/user/ thegoodlife

Where is he now?

United States Marine Corps Veteran Wayne Casebeer’s story was recently published in the March/April 2020 issue of The Good Life.

In the past few months, Casebeer has sought to develop a greater leadership role within the community.

He was reelected as Junior Officer Surgeon of the West Fargo VFW Post 7564 and officially became active as Color Guard Commander for the organization.

Casebeer has also been heavily involved with The Cooties Pack Rat 8, an association of the WF VFW that raised over $70,000 in 2019 to support cancer research. He was elected as Junior Officer Surgeon for the organization.

Additionally, Casebeer was reelected as Senior Vice for Red River Raiders.

His dog, Dan Daly, is now fully grown. Dan can often be seen outside walking with his family and has won the hearts of his neighbors.

48 / THE GOOD LIFE

WAYNE CASEBEER Leading Quietly, Responsibly, and Sincerely

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY: WAYNE CASEBEER

WRITTEN BY: ALEXIS SWENSON

Thirty-one-year-old Wayne Casebeer first joined the United States Marine Corps in part to honor the family legacy of serving his country and in part due to his competitive nature.

"I come from a Navy family. My sister and I are very competitive. She went into the Army and I wanted to do something a bit more to compete with that, so I went into the Marine Corps.

Ultimately, neither of us went into the Navy," said Casebeer.

After graduating from high school in Alexandria, MN, Casebeer enlisted with the US Marine Corps where he completed 5 years of active duty followed by a couple of years in the Marine Forces Reserves. He served in Twentynine Palms, CA, Al Ambar Province Iraq, the reserve station in New Orleans, LA, and the reserve station in Minneapolis, MN. During active duty, Casebeer's role was in Communications and he was attached to an artillery battalion.

"They were using radios to do communications between different units in the Marine Corps which is extremely inefficient. Our goal was to bring the internet to artillery because we needed a way to coordinate fire.

My five years were spent modernizing artillery. I went from high school to leading men in combat and that was pretty cool," said Casebeer.

Aside from the sheer excitement of firing guns, Casebeer appreciated the incredible amount of things he learned in a small amount of time. "It wasn't just working on computers. You have to know how to fire machine guns, fire artillery, haul artillery, drive vehicles, how to load things on vehicles, how to eat, how to feed people, and more," said Casebeer.

Above all else, the people were the most memorable for Casebeer. "I made a whole family. There were 15 of us that stuck together the whole time.

When my battalion deployed, they split

MARINE CORPS VETERAN

us into mini 15 man teams and sent us out. We drove around Iraq for 9 months, just 15 of us, it was great. They were from all walks of life and we're still close today," said Casebeer.

Red River Raiders

Roughly three years ago Casebeer helped to establish Red River Raiders, a nonprofit organization and charter for the Marine Corps League, a congressionally recognized organization to serve Marines. In a similar vein, Red River Raiders has a mission of providing assistance to fellow Marines or disabled veterans.

Red River Raiders supports people in a number of ways including fundraising for Toys for Tots, providing a small detachment for a Color Guard hosted by Casebeer, and assisting with fabric and sewing blankets for Project HART. Project HART is a transitional housing program that provides basic needs, case management, and employment services to homeless veterans to assist them in overcoming their barriers to permanent housing so they can live the life that they deserve.

Additionally, Red River Raiders is heavily involved in assisting with the Homeward Vets program. Homeward Vets is primarily administered by the West Fargo VFW while the Marine Corps League provides the manual labor for the program.

Typically, the Fargo Veteran Affairs Health Care System identifies a Marine that needs an apartment, provides funding, and sets the individual up with keys for the space.

The Red River Raiders' goal is that the day the veteran receives the key, the organization brings a bed, couch, and other furnishings into the apartment.

"Essentially, a person goes from being a disabled homeless veteran to being a veteran with a home that is fully furnished - in the same day. We've been nailing it. We've done very, very well and helped about 60 veterans last year," said Casebeer.

Red River Raiders also hosts the Marine Corps Ball to celebrate their November 10th birthday. "This year we're hosting the event on November 7th in Fargo. It's going to be a formal event so we'll get dressed up in our tuxedos and get the gals nice dresses. It's just going to be really fun," said Casebeer.

PHOTO BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 49

LOCAL HERO | WAYNE CASEBEER

give you immediate gratification because once folks are in and are able to actually get that gratification it makes all the difference. If they're sitting on their hands, they're not going to want to do it anymore. So, putting veterans to work for veterans is a goal that I want to maintain.

If we do and are able to attain new membership, that's what's going to keep them as members. That's my primary goal for all the organizations I'm a part of motivating people enough to stay," said Casebeer.

Life Lately

PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY: WAYNE CASEBEER

A Homeward Vet move that was done by the Marine Corps League last year in the middle of a blizzard.

For Casebeer, a favorite part of his volunteer work is simply working with other veterans. "It's so easy to work with other veterans. It's not difficult to work with other people, but the difference is a language barrier.

So, somebody who might speak broken English - it's not hard to have a conversation with them, but it's not going to be as efficient as having a conversation with somebody you grew up with and that is family. You have your own lingo and your own way of working together.

With veterans, it's like working with a family member.

You can get mad, you can get upset, but you're going to accomplish whatever you're trying to do," said Casebeer.

Casebeer landed in West Fargo, ND to be close to the USMC Reserve station in Wahpeton, ND after being given a choice of Wisconsin or North Dakota. Since Wisconsin was too close to Minneapolis, Casebeer opted for North Dakota. "North Dakota worked out really well; the people are fantastic. I've kind of decided to settle down here," said Casebeer.

Casebeer currently works full time at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota on a small team in cybersecurity and risk management. "Blue Cross Blue Shield has an excellent volunteer program and the leadership there is fantastic. Without working there, I wouldn't be able to do any of the volunteer work I do. They're awesome.

The work is great too. Our primary role is to do risk management for IT systems and security systems overall. It's pretty dynamic and you need to be pretty intelligent to do it," said Casebeer.

West Fargo VFW

Casebeer also is a member of Color Guard for the West Fargo VFW. A sizable group of nearly 40 people are on standby for the group. Casebeer is currently training to take over the position as Color Guard Commander where he will step into greater responsibilities. "It's going to be a lot more work, but I am looking forward to it. It is a commitment with my working multiple jobs, but it should be good," said Casebeer.

Duties of the Commander include coordinating with funeral homes, the National Cemetery, and other veterans organizations depending upon which organization is leading the event. Furthermore, the Commander serves as the point of contact in coordinating for Moorhead, Fargo, and West Fargo ceremonies for various Veterans holidays.

For 2020, Casebeer's goal is to help maintain each organization he's involved with. "It's very hard to recruit folks into nonprofit organizations. I like programs that

50 / THE GOOD LIFE

Casebeer was selected by Northern Lights Council, Boy Scouts of America in 2019 to receive the Andrew P. Nelson Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service. This award recognizes everyday heroes who quietly make a difference in our community in the way that they work, volunteer, and make life better for others.

MARINE CORPS VETERAN

Outside of his full-time job at Blue Cross Blue Shield and volunteering with various veterans organizations, Casebeer enjoys spending time with his toddler daughter. "I have a daughter named Kahlan; she's great. She's a little redhead. It's miserable outside now, but in the summer we like to go to parks and hang out and play," said Casebeer.

In any free time he has left Casebeer trains his 40lb dalmatian puppy, Dan Daly, named after an infamous Marine. "I love my dalmatian. He's one of the best animals there is.

Dan Daly was a Sergeant Major in the US Marine Corps and was awarded two medals of honor. He fought in three different wars and received medals of honor from two different wars. It's a fantastic name," said Casebeer.

The Good Life

A testament to the type of life Casebeer strives to live can be seen in how he was selected by Northern Lights Council, Boy Scouts of America in 2019 to receive the Andrew P. Nelson Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service. This award recognizes everyday heroes who quietly make a difference in our community in the way that they work, volunteer, and make life better for others.

"The good life is mostly helping other people. That's my driving force for everything. A good life for me is to be a responsible leader and also to have people accept me as a leader. Being a responsible leader is to have a goal, set out to accomplish that goal, accomplish that goal, and then be able to measure it. I can see that in the work that I do - people are waiting on me to tell them what to do, especially for the Homeward Vets program. I've got nine people on standby. We all collaborate and work together; we're all effective leaders," said Casebeer. • urbantoadmedia.com / THE GOOD LIFE / 51