Wiesehan Served On Navy Destroyers

"I loved the water. Ships fascinated me," said Don Wiesehan of his decision to join the U.S. Navy.

The Warsaw-born and -raised sailor attended submarine school but soon found it wasn't quite to his liking.

"I started on a pig boat, a diesel submarine. I was supposed to go nuclear sub school. But they needed five, six people to fill out a complement. They basically said, 'You, you, you, you and you.'"

His first wife, Linda, was expected to deliver their first child any day. Although he pleaded his case with the chaplain, at that time, if your wife wasn't issued with your equipment, she didn't count.

"I didn't know what kind of pressure I was under. I thought I'd be OK. A superior hit me in the head with a pencil when I was on watch. I didn't even think about it, I turned around and hit him. Gave him a black eye. I knew it was bad and went to the captain.

"I got off at the next port."

Ships and fresh air were more agreeable. He boarded the destroyer class USS Brush and headed for the West Pacific, sailing the coasts of Vietnam, Thailand and Hong Kong and all ports of call.

"I liked Bangkok and some things I saw in Hong Kong. We always had to go out as a group, though, otherwise you'd get thumped on the head and relieved of your funds.

"There was a lot of prostitution and you couldn't mind your own business. We were bothered and hassled all the time. Some folks might have thought that was wonderful. I didn't."

Destroyers received target coordinates from either the Army or Marines.

"We'd be under way or at anchor and a spotter would call in our fire. We would sit there and hammer whatever they had us shoot on, a target that was several miles away, for hours.

"If you were the unfortunate soul to be working under that gun, it was pretty loud down there, not a very restful night."

The destroyers were called upon to rescue downed pilots.

"One time a pilot went down and was trying to make it back to the aircraft carrier. We were really, really close to shore. Our twin 3-inch mounts were inoperative at the time. The skipper had gunners' mates train those mounts out as if they were operational and we manned all the 5-foot guns. We figured we were going to take fire on this one. I'm on the fighting bridge with a pair of binoculars. There were huge explosions as Phantoms came over and knocked out the gun positions."

During another fire mission, Wiesehan could see people walking on the beach. "We were issued M-1s and grenades in case any swimmers came out, we were that close. But we never used them."

Wiesehan went ashore in Vietnam, once, accompanying his favorite skipper, Cdr. C.R. Norton Jr.

"They handed me a Browning automatic rifle. It was the first time I'd ever had one. I'd never shot that gun in my life. I'd have chewed my knuckles until I figured it out.

"We didn't get to do much shooting in the Navy," the torpedoman said.

"When we did get small arms out, it was to stand watch. If you hit the water, you qualified. We just had to be familiarized with the weapon."

Ship visitors or passengers traditionally surrender their weapons. An exception was made when a SEAL Team came aboard. They refused to render up their sidearms or weapons.

"Rather than fight it out, we let them keep them," Wiesehan said, as if the crew had a chance to subdue the elite combat specialists. "They were the exception."

"One time we were pulling into port and dropped the anchor by accident. The windlass broke. The skipper said we had a choice. Either call over a tug and use their windlass to pull up our anchor or we pull it up by hand. We pulled it up by hand. The entire crew pulled. It's hard to believe even today that we did it. I guess that's what you call espirit d'corps."

Because of the heat, the uniform, most days, was dungarees and no shirt, unless a sailor was standing watch

"I had a great tan. One morning I woke up with these spots, like a leopard. When I wasn't tan the spots would be red. When I was tan they would be white. Six months ago I finally outgrew it. I think it's finally gone.

"It was hot, but then again below decks we had air conditioning." Navy life is a whole lot easier than the Marines or the Army. You have regular showers, get hot meals and clean clothes. You don't have to sleep in the dirt."

The Brush was decommissioned and, like many World War II-vintage ships, sold to the Chinese. Wiesehan was then stationed aboard a second destroyer, USS Brain, which eventually was decommissioned, too.

Destroyer-class crews have their pride.

"We had a poor skipper after the Brush. We had anchored out in the river. Because he didn't like the way the ship looked he wanted to paint it, so we sat out there for six hours. He ran into a pier a couple of times. And of course he blamed the seamen. He put a hole in the ship twice. He just wasn't the best guy, he came from an oiler. He would call for tug assistance. Destroyers don't need tugs; they're more like motor boats. When we came ashore, we'd try to hide our ship's patch so no one knew where we were from."

Near the end of his active duty in 1971, Wiesehan was stationed on a reserve trainer and decided to join the Navy Reserve, too.

He and Linda, and their two children, Donald Jr. and Rhonda, had returned to Indiana.

He always wanted to be on a PT boat and he heard they were available in the Great Lakes. So he signed himself and a buddy up for a transfer from Fort Wayne to the Michigan unit.

"I don't know how I got away with signing up my friend, but I did. He was surprised.

"After drilling up there for a year and a half, I decided we had to do something different, so I signed us both up for the National Guard unit in Warsaw."

At the time the Guard uniforms were all green.

"My friend said, 'What?'

"I said, 'I signed us up for the National Guard.'

He said, 'You mean we have to wear pickle suits?'

"I said, "I guess we are.'"

Wiesehan went on to join the National Guard's shooting team and traveled across the country participating in competitions.

After 15 years with the Guard he joined the Army Reserve and was activated for Desert Storm. While at Fort Benning, Ga., he joined the Army's marksmanship unit. Returning to reserve status, he shot with that team for a few years.

Today Wiesehan is remarried to Marsha and is a supervisor for the Warsaw Post Office.

Donald Jr. is a deputy sheriff and a sergeant in the Army Reserve. Rhonda is a probation officer. Both work for Kosciusko County.

Although Wiesehan once saw a USS Brush reunion advertised, he didn't go.

"And I don't know why. I think it's different with combat troops. It's not the same as a combat deal where you're really in dire straits."