Wahlen was born in a farmhouse near Ogden, Utah. Soon after he was born his family moved to Ogden where they stayed until he was about 12 or 13 year old. He had twin brothers who were younger than him, Jim and Gene.When he was about 12 his family moved to a farm west of Ogden. During the summer he had to stay home to sell night crawlers [Annotator's Note: worms]. He was able to attend school.Wahlen bought a horse with the money he made selling night crawlers. He doesn't feel that the depression was too tough on him.He attended a school in Brigham City for aircraft mechanics. After finishing the school he went to work at Hill Field. He was just under 18 at the time.He worked there for about a year. After turning 18 he signed up for the draft. He was drafted and sent to the navy. He took eight weeks of basic training and was then sent to hospital corps school. He complained and was told that he may be able to get into an aviation unit after corps school.During corps school a nurse threatened to send him to the Marine Corps so he went to the Marine Corps recruiter and asked him about service in the Marines. He was sent to Camp Pendleton for another eight weeks of training.The Marines talked down to him for being a corpsman and not being a Marine. He showed them that he could beat them and never dropped out of a hike. After a while the Marines really looked out for him.After six months they got orders. They went aboard a ship and after they were at sea they were told that they were going to Hawaii for additional training. They trained for about six months in Hawaii then set out for Iwo Jima.

Aboard ship, Wahlen's platoon leader would talk to his men about what to expect when they landed [Annotator’s Note: on Iwo Jima].Wahlen's deck was five decks below the main deck. He had to ask his lieutenant for permission to drill with the men. He befriended another corpsman during training. He was in the same company but a different platoon.Every day the lieutenant would talk to the men to prepare them for the landing on Iwo Jima. They landed on Iwo Jima on the 19th of February 1945. They went down cargo nets into landing boats. They could see firing into Iwo.They were held up at first and went in the afternoon of the 19th. They took some fire over their landing boat before they got to the beach. When they hit the beach they were in the black volcanic sand. It was scary.Wahlen heard a marine call for a corpsman; he patched him up and gave him a shot of morphine.At night he could see tracers firing up at Suribachi.He fell asleep but woke up when a grenade went off near him and he was hit with some fragments.Wahlen's platoon had set up a perimeter. A mortar round came in and his platoon leader was hit. He patched him up and got him evacuated. He learned later that his platoon leader died from his wounds.After they moved out, the platoon sergeant was hit. Wahlen treated him and waited for the stretcher bearers. Then they continued on to the northern part of the island. They were constantly suffering casualties.Wahlen was hit in the face again with some shrapnel and his eye became swollen shut.He got himself patched up and went back to his unit.During the fighting he gave the wounded morphine and did what he could to treat the casualties they were suffering.During one battle, his friend from training was hit in the chest. Wahlen crawled out to him and treated him as best he could and got him evacuated. That was a very tough one for him.

During the last advance Wahlen was involved in, he was called forward to treat a badly wounded marine [Annotator’s Note: on Iwo Jima]. On his way forward a mortar round went off next to him breaking his leg. He patched himself up and gave himself a shot of morphine. He then made his way forward to the wounded men and treated them. While he was waiting for the stretcher bearers to take him to the rear he crawled out to a wounded marine about fifty yards away and treated him. Wahlen was finally taken to the rear.He doesn't recall the name of the ship that took him to Iwo Jima. He does recall watching the planes bombing the island before he landed on it. He was always on edge. By the time the campaign ended 26 days after the initial landing there were only five original members of his company left.Wahlen feels that he knew what to expect before landing. He knew that he would have to go out to treat the wounded and was proud of himself for never failing to do his job.As a corpsman Wahlen carried a bag of medical supplies and morphine. He had been issued a carbine but while he was aboard ship a marine gave him a .45 pistol. During the battle he gave his carbine to a marine.Wahlen only fired his pistol once. Japanese troops tried to slip into his hole. At night the men stayed in their foxholes in pairs.Most of what Wahlen carried was battle dressings and morphine along with some other minor equipment. Stopping the bleeding was the most important task.One moment that stands out to him was when a wounded marine was brought to him one night. He gave the man a shot of morphine then had to leave to treat other wounded. When he returned to his foxhole the man was gone.

Wahlen's division used to get together after the war. His platoon leader would get them together and have each one talk. During one of the reunions a marine hugged him and told him that he had saved his life. He has missed several reunions due to some strokes he has suffered.Wahlen didn't see the flag going upon Mt. Suribachi but did hear about it.There was no typical wound. The corpsmen suffered quite a few casualties themselves. While treating a wounded man he saw a Japanese soldier. He crawled over to where the enemy soldier's foxhole was and threw a grenade into the hole. He didn't hear from the enemy soldier after that.Wahlen was evacuated to a field hospital. His leg was looked at and bandaged up. He received a shot of morphine. The next day he was taken on an ambulance of some type and put aboard a landing boat and taken out to a big ship. He was on a big ship until it reached Guam.Wahlen was transported to a tent hospital on Guam. His platoon Sergeant, Sergeant Malone, who he had worked on in combat, came in to see him. He had lost part of a leg and hand.Wahlen was later flown to Hawaii and spent some time in a hospital and then was taken aboard ship to San Francisco and then to Camp Pendleton to a hospital where he spend the next six or seven months. From the time he had been wounded, it was close to nine months. It was there that he found out he was to receive the Medal of Honor. Prior to that he found out he received two Navy Crosses. Wahlen wasn't getting great treatment, but when the commander awarded him two Navy Crosses, that changed. He received the Navy Crosses about a month before receiving the Medal of Honor.Wahlen can't remember if he was told he was getting the Medal of Honor or not. He thinks so, but feels like he reported in Washington D.C. on the date he was supposed to and discovered he was to receive the Medal of Honor. He was surprised to know that his mother and father and aunt and uncle were there. It was a good experience for him to see them after all that time.Wahlen could hardly imagine he was getting the Medal of Honor. When he arrived, there were 14 men sitting in one area that were getting the Medal. Surrounding them in a big area was other officers and men. It was a big experience for a young man to be in that position. Wahlen remembers being nervous and shaky when meeting President Truman. He remembers Truman saying something about being, "glad to finally see a pill pusher up there."After receiving the Medal of Honor, Wahlen got the chance to spend a little time with his family there and then was taken out and put in cars that were convertibles. They were lead to a parade and it was quite an experience. He Wahlen was sent back to the hospital again after that and spent another month or so in the hospital until he was finally discharged.Wahlen went home to his folks that lived west of Ogden, Utah and he got a job. He met his wife, got married and he decided to go back to school on the GI bill. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree and a recruiting Sergeant promised him he could rejoin the Army and keep his old grade (a Master Sergeant) on recruiting duty.Wahlen didn't do well at first with recruiting. He recalled an officer that was in charge told him he wanted him to go see five or six people a day. Wahlen remembered the first time he did that, he enlisted 14 people. That was the highest in the whole group. From then on, he did quite well.

Wahlen was an E-5, Pharmacist’s Mate 2nd class when he got out of the Navy. His US Army career was over twenty years.He served in Korea towards the end of the war. He was in a field hospital and was a personnel hospital for a battalion there. A lot of Koreans worked with them on the compound. Wahlen came back and spent time in Colorado Springs for three years, then Hawaii for three years. From there he was sent to Vietnam. After Vietnam he was sent to Arizona and spent another year there. He had twenty years at this point and decided to retire.Wahlen was in a headquarters unit in Vietnam working with a surgeon as an administrative officer within a division. He worked with a doctor and spent some time going out in the field checking with the MSC officer and enlisted people trying to satisfy what his Colonel wanted him to do. At the time he was a Major. He couldn't remember what division it was with.Wahlen felt that World War II changed his life. It got him going a different direction in life and spending more time in the military.He recalls having nightmares while he in the hospital in World War II. He would wake up screaming and awaken the whole ward. Finally, he was given a room on his own. He remembers when he came home that he had a single bed he slept in. At one point though he was sharing a bed with his brother and woke up trying to choke him and was screaming at him. From then on, he made sure he stayed only in one bed by himself. He had that problem until the day he got married. Once he got married, the nightmares stopped.Wahlen remembers the dreams being about the fighting on Iwo Jima. He didn't have any control over them and was kind of embarrassed by them. While in the hospital he was having operations on his leg too and that put him under pressure going through that, causing nightmares too.Wahlen had a Veteran's Administration hospital named after him by senators in Utah. A cemetery was also named for him. Wahlen [Annotator’s Note: at the time of the interview] is actively working on getting a VA hospital nursing home established in Ogden. He met with legislators trying to establish everything. He doesn't consider himself a spokesperson for veterans, but says that legislators just try to keep him involved speaking out since he has the Medal of Honor.

Wahlen said he hesitated talking about the war when he came home, but sometimes the pressure was put on him to talk. After he got married to his wife, he had occasions to talk about the war. He doesn't think he told his wife about the Medal of Honor until he got an invitation to a presidential dinner and then she found out about it. She was amazed by it. They have been now to four or five presidential dinners for Medal of Honor recipients.Wahlen has met every President since Truman that has invited the recipients. He remembers President Eisenhower, and remembers not getting invited to meet President Johnson. He thinks he has met all of the others though.He feels it is important to know what people went through in World War II. He also feels that the advantages people have now are better than what they had back then. Wahlen feels it is important to have museums, like the National World War II Museum, to help people understand what has gone on before and can help them relate to the conditions that might come along the same line.Wahlen felt that the worst part of his service was his time on Iwo Jima. Leaving your family was hard. He was lucky in Korea and Vietnam to be in a position where he wouldn't get fired on very much.He remembers that as a corpsman, you were dedicated to what your responsibility was and your training; he is proud of his service. He remembers being decorated with the Medal of Honor most from his service. The other thing he remembers most is the friendships he made and dedication he had toward troops.