Local veterans who served on USS Wainwright share their experiences


Dean Bechtel

Virgil Thorstenson

by Lissa Blake

When the USS Wainwright traveling museum exhibit trailer comes to Waukon for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, it will bring back very distinct memories for at least two local veterans.
Dean Bechtel and Virgil Thorstensen both served on the Wainwright at different times during their military careers. Bechtel, who graduated from Waukon High School in 1966, served four years in the U.S. Navy, while Thorstensen, a 1967 graduate, served for 20 years. Both men recently recalled their service to their country.

DEAN BECHTEL
Just two weeks before Dean Bechtel graduated from high school, he received his U.S. Army draft notice and was summoned to Fort Des Moines. The Vietnam War was in full swing, so when he arrived, he seized the opportunity to trade in the prospect of fighting on the ground for two years for a four-year assignment with the U.S. Navy.
After attending fleet training command in San Diego, CA, he was assigned to the USS Sterett (CG31) as a radioman, a job that carried with it a top-secret security clearance. “I remember, for me to get clearance, they made inquiries with quite a few people back home,” he said.
The ship was stationed off the coast of Vietnam and Bechtel’s job was to work in the cramped space of the ship’s radio shack, receiving radio transmissions, transcribing them and sending them off to the appropriate ships. He said he found the job stressful, as his main activity included receiving a large list of casualties every evening and compiling them for both the U.S. Marines and the Army.
“It was a stressful job, delivering those messages. Guys in the radio shack either got to be religious, or it really bothered them,” he said. “It’s amazing how a war can kill thousands of people, and it doesn’t change society a bit."

AN OPPORTUNITY
After two years of service on the Sterett, Bechtel said he jumped at the chance to trade places with a radioman on the USS Wainwright. “There was a guy who wanted a little action, so I was able to transfer,” said Bechtel.
Bechtel said life on the Wainwright was much better and a lot less stressful, as it got him out of the war zone. “I worked with a great bunch of guys. We were in such close quarters, we got to be closer than family,” he said.
Bechtel’s new job involved receiving coordinates from the Marines and transmitting them to the jet pilots (in planes dropping the bombs) taking off from the aircraft carriers. “I’ll never forget one morning when one of the pilots sang, ‘Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I’ve got a terrible feeling, everything’s going my way.’ It was the last I heard of him. He was shot down and killed,” remembered Bechtel.
Bechtel said although he knew his number could be up at any time, he tried not to think about it as he performed his daily tasks. “Worrying about getting hit was a part of life. But then again, you don’t worry about it, because if you were going to get hit, you wouldn’t even know it,” he said.
Bechtel recalled a conversation he had with the captain of the ship one day. “I noticed there were only seven or eight lifeboats and over 300 guys on our ship. I asked him why. He told me most of the snipes would happen under the floor of the ship. Those guys would die anyway, and as captain, he would not abandon ship until half of the crew had been killed. It must be very hard to look at life that way,” he said.

THE NEXT CHAPTER
Bechtel served until 1970 and married his wife, Sherry (Halverson), just 11 days after his discharge. He and Sherry had met when he was home on leave. Dean and Sherry’s brother had been friends in high school.
“I remember he had one of the other boys ask me if I wanted to go out with him. You’d think if somebody could go to war, they wouldn’t have any problem asking you out,” said Sherry.
After they married, the couple had four children and farmed near Rossville for many years. Dean is now semi-retired.
When asked how he feels about his service, he said he wouldn’t trade it for anything. “I wish there wasn’t such a thing as war, but I think it was a good experience for most young people,” he said.

VIRGIL THORSTENSON
Just a year after Bechtel joined the Navy, Virgil Thorstensen enlisted in 1967. After attending boot camp in San Diego, CA, he was assigned to the USS Prairie (AD 15) as a fireman apprentice, but quickly went to work in the electrical division.
While he was assigned to the Prairie, it made two trips to the Western Pacific, operating out of ports in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan.
After being promoted to Electrician's Mate, Petty Officer Third Class, he received orders to transfer to the USS Reeves, with a home port in Pearl Harbor, HI. Off the coast of Vietnam, the Reeves provided cover for the carrier battle groups of the USS Oriskany, USS Midway and USS Constellation.
The ship was stationed in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Hanoi. One of its missions was to rescue pilots whose aircraft could not make it back to the carriers. The Prairie was escorted by a destroyer, which was capable of taking out the Vietnamese “junks” (boats made to look like fishing boats that were loaded with ammunition).
His next assignment took him to Great Lakes, IL, where he worked as an instructor. It was during this time he married Debra Kruger before being assigned to the submarine repair ship, USS Holland (AS-32), stationed in Holy Loch Scotland, as the Electrical Repair Shop Leading Petty Officer.
“A good part of the assignment was that Deb could come over and live in Scotland, too,” Thorstensen told Maury Gallagher in a previous interview about his military service.

A GREAT HONOR
While serving on the Holland, Thorstensen was promoted to Chief Petty Officer and the ship was given the Battenburg cup, an award given annually as a symbol of operational excellence to the best ship or submarine in the United States Navy Atlantic Fleet.
During that time, Thorstensen had the privilege to meet with Lord Mountbatten and shake his hand. “He struck me as a very common man, considering his position in world leadership,” recalled Thorstensen.

THE WAINWRIGHT
After a short stint on the USS McCard, Thorstensen went back to Great Lakes before being assigned to the USS Wainwright (CG 28) as Senior Electrician in 1984. “The Wainwright was at sea a lot,” he remembered. “It really had a can-do spirit.”
While he was on board, the Wainwright made two deployments to the Mediterranean with the USS Forrestal Battle Group. Ports of call during Thorstensen’s time aboard included Marseilles, France; Villa France, France; Palma de Majorca, Spain; Toarmina, Sicily; Haifa, Israel (twice); and Naples, Genoa and Gaeta, Italy.
Thorstensen was able to tour Rome and visit many of Rome’s historical sites, including the Vatican and Colosseum. “We worked hard, but played hard too, when the liberty call was sounded,” said Thorstensen.
“I have fond memories of the men in the electrical division… My favorite time on board was when we were at sea… Not to say I didn’t miss my wife and children. But a good sailor belongs on a ship, and a good ship belongs at sea,” he said.

PAYING TRIBUTE
In 1987, about the time Thorstensen was ready to retire, a group of Navy veterans formed the Wainwright Association, in honor of the mighty ship, which had been decommissioned. “When the ship was decommissioned, the crew members were allowed on the ship to remove items of interest to form a museum trailer… I remember they were stripping it the day 9/11 happened,” he said.
Thorstensen said the Wainwright museum trip this summer is its first away from the east coast. He hopes anyone interested will take the time to come see it this Saturday-Monday, May 23-25. Hours of operation include 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and following the parade Monday.