Oral History Project with Korean War Era Veteran John Wedin

John Wedin is a United States Army veteran who served during the Korean War era from July 1953 to July 1956. Wedin was born in Brewer, Maine where he still currently resides.

Wedin trained at Fort Gordon, Georgia and served in the Army Signal Corps as a radar repairman. He continued radar training at Fort Monmouth, NJ where he trained on what then was a new secretive piece of equipment, the computer. Wedin later was stationed at White Sands, NM where he tested radar signals in the atmosphere. In this interview Wedin recalls his service in the Army including his views on the anti-communism propaganda used to pursue Army soldiers during the early 1950’s. This is his story.

This interview was conducted by students Izzy Bouchard and Dylan LeClair at the New England School of Communications at Husson University in the spring of 2017. It was recorded and lighted by NESCom students Izzy Bouchard, Patrik Orcutt and Dylan LeClair.

The interview was part of a unique class combining oral history techniques with journalism. The class was created by Journalism Instructor Jeffrey Hope, who coordinates the Journalism and Sports Journalism Departments at the New England School of Communications.
The project paired students with veterans who volunteer their time at the Cole Land Transportation Museum in Bangor, Maine. Mr. Hope would like to thank the museum and Executive Director Jim Neville.

This interview will be archived with the Veteran's Project at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. making it permanently available for future generations.

We would like to thank John Wedin for his hospitality to us, and his service to our country.

Below is a log of the interview if you would like to listen to a specific section.

0:00 - 1:20 Introduction

1:20 - 6:30 Life before war. John Wedin is from Brewer, Maine and went to Maine Vocational Technical Institute in South Portland.

1:57 - Wedin had a choice between drafting and enlisting and he chose to enlist.

2:45 - Father asked him to enlist because he served his King’s army in Sweden.

3:52 - Wedin recalls a local Brewer Paper Mill Factory.

5:48 - Wedin says it was expected to enlist during the early 1950’s.

6:38 - Wedin recalls his exposure to Anti-Communism Propaganda.

7:10 - Wedin talks about an anti-Communism questionnaire that asked him, “Were you ever a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade?”

8:43 - Wedin discusses an information and education class that dealt with anti-communism propaganda.

9:15 - Wedin’s family was from Sweden and he discusses their views on the Korean War.

10:35 - Wedin went to basic training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.

10:55 - Wedin went into the Signal Corps at Fort Gordon, Georgia.

12:53 - Drill instructors recently back from Korea would scare them with their war stories.

13:10 - Wedin recalls one of his drill sergeants saying, “If you don’t clean your weapon, you’re going to die.”

13:35 - John Wedin’s military occupational specialty or MOS was radar repair.

13:55 - Wedin went to Fort Monmouth, NJ for his MOS training which was ten months.

14:21 - Wedin’s MOS required him to obtain a security clearance.

14:50- 17:10 - Wedin discusses the beginning of radar in Europe.

17:38 - Wedin recalls a device called a “computer” and was considered to be very secretive.

22:06 - In the early 1950’s we didn’t understand all the layers of the atmosphere yet

24:16 - The United States was measuring frequencies every fifteen minutes in six places across the world.

24:20 - Wedin was transferred to White Sands, NM where there was atomic bomb testings.

26:48 - Korean War advanced radar technology to fire assisted missiles.

28:50 - John Wedin’s personal thoughts on General Macarthur and President Truman.

33:25 - Wedin gives details on his barracks life.

35:39 - Wedin recalls a fire at a missile factory in New Mexico.

38:20 - Wedin begins to discuss a disturbing basic training story about singling out jewish recruits in basic training.
41:30 - An African-American soldier, Kelvin Weims, could not read nor write. Wedin discusses how the military would rather have an uneducated black soldier to take the place of a white man.

43:00 - Closing questions

43:40 - Wedin attended Husson University with his GI Bill and was paid $100 per month.

46:30 - A disturbing story that Wedin reveals about his gunner’s mate, Turnpin, who was so fatigued he died of exhaustion during training.

Видео Oral History Project with Korean War Era Veteran John Wedin канала NESCom Journalism