Picking up the pieces of the past

Picking up the pieces of the past

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Nov. 4, 2017

Picking up the pieces of the past

It took a long time for a Vietnam vet on today’s Honor Flight to open up

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

Russ Guillaume doesn’t know why he holds onto as much as he does for as long as he does, especially one black with gold trim foot locker about 2 feet tall, 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep that followed Guillaume home from Vietnam.

For 20-plus years, that foot locker wasn’t opened. It took up space whatever room it was in. These days it’s in a spare bedroom in his West Bend home. But there was never an inkling to open it or get rid of it.

That changed when his daughter Jennifer Stange, then a sophomore at West Bend West in the early 1990s, had a U.S. History class project looking at the Vietnam War.

“It was like opening a door to a room you never really were able to go into” Stange said.

It gave Stange a new perspective and appreciation for her father, who had several tasks while serving in the Army in Vietnam, including riding in convoys with jet fuel and operating 50-caliber gatling guns on Huey helicopters.

“That was one of the first times he talked indepth about Vietnam,” Stange said. “I found it fascinating because it was such a huge part of his life and who he is.”

It also eased some of Guillaume’s terrifying memories.

“It opened me up a little more,” he said.

Things have been easier on Guillaume since and, today, he joins more than 150 veterans — 15 others from Washington County — on the final Stars and Stripes Honor Flight of the year.

“We’re all ecstatic,” Stange said. “We couldn’t be happier that dad could go on the Honor Flight and go enjoy it.”

Joining Guillaume in D.C. from Washington County are James Coplin (Richfield, Vietnam, Air Force), Jim Core (Hartford, Vietnam, Army), Raymond Fairbanks (West Bend, Vietnam, Army), Frederick Grauberger (Germantown, Korea, Army), Gregory Henson (Colgate, Vietnam, Army), James “Jonesy” Korth (Kewaskum, Vietnam, Marines), William Kulas (Kewaskum, Vietnam, Marines),

Russ Lamb (Hartford, Korean, Army), John McCauley, Sr. (Jackson, Vietnam, Marines), Frederick “Fritz” Mueller (Slinger, Korea, Army), Ken Quade (Germantown, Korean, branch not provided), Jerry Schneider (Kewaskum, Vietnam, Army), Al Schrader (West Bend, Vietnam, Navy), Bill Stueckroth (Germantown, Korea, Navy) and Ron Wesloski (Germantown, Vietnam, Army).

In all, 152 veterans will take the Honor Flight that day — 111 Vietnam vets, 31 Korean vets and 10 World War II vets.

It is Guillaume’s first trip to the nation’s capital.

“I hear from other guys and they really enjoy it,” he said.

Guillaume, who grew up in Spencer, about 8 miles northwest of Marshfield, served in the Army from 1965-1971. He rose to the rank of sergeant and was awarded the Bronze Star. When he was drafted, he was 20 years old and working with the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department and its sniper patrol unit.

Guillaume moved to West Bend in 1968, about a year after returning from Vietnam. He has been an active member of the American Legion since the late 1960s and joined the VFW in the early 1990s.

Guillaume is proud of his service, which is why he is active in several veteran’s organizations.

“He’s always been very patriotic and very strong about raising us to be patriotic,” Stange said.

While proud of his patriotism, Guillaume was often far more quiet about what he did and went through in Vietnam.

“He was always active in things like Vietnam vets, American Legion, but it was one of those topics that we did, but didn’t talk about,” Stange said. “We never played cops and robbers as kids. There were certain things that didn’t sit well with my dad.”

Guillaume also doesn’t watch any movies or television shows with shootout scenes.

In the first year upon his return from Vietnam, life was tough for Guillaume, but not because of any memories lingering from the war. It was because four friends died in a year’s span.

When Guillaume got to West Bend, he got a job at Gehl Co. and was there until 2006. He also worked part-time in that same span for 7 UP.

He will celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary in June with his wife Jeanette.

At his West Bend home just off of Wildwood Road, that foot locker has a thick white and furry blanket on top of it, plus several boxes of crayons.

Today, that locker doesn’t hold the memories of Vietnam. Instead, those are now packed into a box, shoved into a closet in the same bedroom.

Among the items in the locker include chopsticks, several books from Vietnam and a small notebook he had from basic training.

Knowing her father served in Vietnam, Stange knew she had to ask him about it. However, it wasn’t that simple.

“A little bit nervous,” Stange said when asked if she had nerves about asking her dad about his service. “I wasn’t not sure if it’d be a big topic for him. I’m very thankful I did.”

So much changed after that day for Stange, her father and the rest of the family, which includes a second daughter and two sons.

“Since then it’s opened the door to more conversations throughout the years,” Stange said, adding, “I don’t think we ever wanted to get rid of it. I wouldn’t want him to get rid of it.”