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.
