Carson City veteran served in two wars, two branches of military

After seeing firsthand the effects of two wars, Arnold Wetzstein knows - and wishes younger generations could understand - that freedom isn't free.

"I came back alive, but I know some who didn't," said Wetzstein, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. "We are the most free country in the world. Men paid that price. I thank God my life was spared after service in the Navy and the Army. The people I saw die ... boy, (freedom) was not cheap."

A Carson City resident since 1977, Wetzstein, 81, served in the military for 20 years, becoming an officer in two separate branches.

A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Wetzstein graduated from high school in 1936, and after reviewing his options, decided to join the Navy. He couldn't afford college, and because of the Depression, knew he needed to learn a trade to support himself. His brother was in the Navy, and Wetzstein said travel and Navy-life appealed to him.

He was supposed to be discharged in 1940. England declared war on Germany in September 1939, and with war looming on the horizon for the United States, Wetzstein decided to extend his tour two more years.

He ended up serving on various ships in the Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets during World War II, working as a marine engineer mostly on convoy ships, the life support for Allied forces in Europe. He was also involved in 1942 occupation of Iceland, the invasion of North Africa and a 1944 invasion of Southern France.

"Ship life was hard. We were under constant stress," he said. "We slept in our clothes, because you never knew when you were going to be attacked."

Promotions during war time were granted quickly, he said, and he eventually climbed to the rank of Chief Warrant Machinist because of "hard work and I kept my nose clean."

He spent 10 years in the Navy, but was denied a permanent position because of some physical problems. He worked at Mather Air Force Base in Sacramento, Calif. as a heating and refrigeration technician after his 1946 discharge.

Then, two years later, an Army recruiter came to the base.

"I went to see what the Army had, and they were happy to get me in," Wetzstein said. "I think it's unusual to get commissioned in two branches of the military."

He enlisted as a technical sergeant, and after an abbreviated basic infantry training, was sent to Seattle where he taught ROTC classes. When war broke in Korea in 1950, he received orders for his second war.

It was in Korea he saw more front-line action, saying at one point, 54 of 200 men in his company were killed.

"We were out manned 10 to one over there," he said. "We were transporting troops from one area to the other, and towns would change hands two to three times a day.

"I felt a little out of place being a Navy man," he said. "I was kind of a misfit in the infantry, not having the training. I admire and respect the people in the infantry. It's a harder deal. They had it bad."

He left Korea in 1952 as a first lieutenant, eventually becoming the commanding officer of a heavy truck transport division in France before retiring in 1958 as a captain.

After his military service, he received a degree in business education and economics from Sacramento State University. He taught for a while, but the Coast Guard called him in the late 1960s needing skills he had learned in World War II. Using his marine engineering skills, he ended up on ships heading to and from Vietnam for about four years, until a stroke ended his military-travels.

A father of three, Wetzstein said he feels people treat veterans well, but that today's school children are not taught enough about the wars and the men who fought in them.

"Remember the vets and what they've done for the country, and all the things we've fought for the preservation of democracy," he said.