I like to think of myself as a NODAK, someone from North Dakota even though most of my school years were in Southern Minnesota. I was born on the 18th of January 1947 in Devils Lake, North Dakota to Eugene and Eleanor Wallestad. I am the “baby” of the family having three older siblings, two brothers and a sister. I spent my early years, through 5th grade in North Dakota and moved with the family to Amboy, Minnesota in 1958, where I met, Brenda, my future and current wife, in the sixth grade.
We started dating Junior year and as they say, the rest is history. Like many of my future classmates, I graduated from High School at the age of 18 with a fairly limited exposure to the outside world and certainly not the Army. In 1964, it seemed apparent that we were going to become involved in Viet-Nam so a decision needed to be made on military service. My family was not a military family but had a tradition of serving and that seemed natural to me. I chose the Military Academy as my way to serve. I enrolled at West Point fully intending to select a career in the Air Force upon graduation, only to find out after we were sworn in that that option was no longer available to me. My time at West Point wasn’t particularly enjoyable, academics were never a problem, running was. Upon graduation, I was commissioned in the Field Artillery and chose an initial assignment in Germany. Having low expectations of serving in the Army, I came to find out that I enjoyed it and I enjoyed working with soldiers. While in Germany, I commanded two Field Artillery batteries in the 1st Bn 94th FA in the 4th/1st Armored Division. I left Germany in February ’73 on orders to Viet-Nam even though the war had ended, FA Branch changed their mind and told me to report to the Career Course at Fort Sill. Upon completion of the Career Course, I was sent on my short tour to Korea where I was assigned to the 1st Bn 15th FA. Hoping to be an S1, I was assigned to the S3 shop. I did succeed in getting an S1 job after about 4 months and held it for a month before I was put in command of Alpha Battery. This assignment became the high spot of my Army career, I was proud to serve with them and they were an excellent unit being recognized as “Honor Battery” for the Second Division. This led to our being honored to fire the 50-gun Salute to the Nation at 8th Army Headquarters on the 4th of July 1975. Leaving Korea, I accepted an ROTC assignment at Wheaton College in Wheaton Illinois. Upon promotion to Major, I was assigned to the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill. I resigned two years later and took a job with FMC in the Defense Industry. While in the Defense Industry I spent most of my career managing our efforts to penetrate the Field Artillery market. Ultimately we were able to do this and I served as the Program Director for the Army’s Crusader Howitzer Program. FMC morphed into United Defense and in 2000 was assigned as Vice President European Operations and Vice Chairman of Bofors Defense after United Defense acquired it. Brenda and I relocated to Sweden for a year to assist with the integration of Bofors Defence into United Defense. I then returned to the USA in late 2001 and served as the President, Bofors Defence USA. During this period Bofors Defense participated in the development of the Excalibur 155 mm guided projectile and introduced the 57 mm Naval Gun to the USCG and USN. I retired in 2006 and the Class Cruise to Alaska which Brenda and I enjoyed started me on a retirement activity of cruising with classmates which I have enjoyed very much. We also purchased and enjoyed a lake Home at Lake Anna, Virginia for 13 years and are now enjoying an “Active Adult” community in Gainesville, Virginia. We have three daughters who with their families live in the MD/DC/VA area.
- The Long Drive to R-Day
My parents drove me from Minnesota – a three-or four-day journey. Along the way, we stopped one night with my sister and brother-in-law in Princeton, N.J. They dropped me off in Highland Falls the night before. I stayed in some sort of boarding house with about 6 prospective cadets. Not being from New York, we… Read more: The Long Drive to R-Day