John Bache-Wiig, Jr.'s name is hyphenated because he is Norwegian. Somebody had married and had two children and both parents died suddenly. Their uncle brought them up and one of the children married and had two children. Those parents died and that uncle, now the great-uncle brought up those children. The second group of children adopted his name. So the hyphenation came from that. Wiig was born in June 1925 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He had a younger brother. When he was four and a half, his family moved to his grandmother's house in Indian Township [Annotator's Note: Passamaquoddy Indian Township Reservation], Washington County, Maine. This was during the Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945] and his father was a pulp and paper engineer. His grandfather had just died. They lived on the Indian township. There were three sets of non-Indian residents. The Indians eventually bought the house and now there is a casino there. The times were tough. In summers, they lived in a camp they paddled three miles to get to. Eventually the CCC [Annotator's Note: Civilian Conservation Corps] put in a road. They moved to Princeton [Annotator's Note: Princeton, Maine], then to Calais [Annotator's Note: Calais, Maine], and then to Quoddy Village [Annotator's Note: Quoddy Village, Maine]. When he was in the sixth grade he moved to Augusta, Maine. He graduated high school in 1943, turned 18 in June, and was inducted [Annotator's Note: into the Army] on 22 July 1943. Wiig was playing ping-pong in his best friend's cellar when his friend's father came down and said the Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] had bombed Honolulu [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. They thought he was kidding. Wiig read a lot and knew where Pearl Harbor was. Wiig wanted to go fly and passed all the exams for the Marines. He asked to wait a week to graduate. They then asked how old he was. He was told he needed college. He got drafted after that. His father was in the 8th Air Force in England. He was in intelligence because he spoke German and some Scandinavian languages and ended up a Major. He had been in World War 1 in the AEF [Annotator's Note: American Expeditionary Forces]. He was 49 when he went back in as a Captain. Wiig went to Camp Roberts, California [Annotator's Note: in Monterey County and San Luis Obispo County, California] for boot camp. He went by train to Douglas [Annotator's Note: Douglas, Arizona] on 6 August 1943, and at the train station had sandwiches and hot coffee. Twenty-five years later, he drove there to that station with his family to a new job where he would stay until he retired.

John Bache-Wiig, Jr. went to Camp Roberts [Annotator's Note: in Monterey County and San Luis Obispo County, California] in July 1943. He was used to being alone and that did not bother him at all. Boot camp was strictly G.I. [Annotator's Note: government issue; also, a slang term for an American soldier] and desert training. It was hot. They were issued salt pills. In November [Annotator's Note: November 1943], he took and passed Air Force tests. He was transferred into the Army Air Corps and went to Denver [Annotator's Note: Denver, Colorado] in December [Annotator's Note: December 1943]. In Denver, he got the flu and ended up in the hospital. He had collapsed and was out for 24 hours. When he got out, he went to get his records and was handed a package that read "Robert" Bache-Wiig. Two families of Bache-Wiigs had emigrated from Norway to the United States. His father's family covered the east coast. His grandfather's first cousin ended up in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Robert was from that line. Things got straightened out and he got to meet his cousin for the first time.

John Bache-Wiig, Jr. went to Mather Field in Sacramento [Annotator's Note: Sacramento, California] for special unit training. They did four hours of book work and then four hours working on B-25s [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber]. They took them apart and put them back together. They were set to graduate, and the program was disbanded. He saw a program on PBS [Annotator's Note: Public Broadcasting System] about veterans. On it was a disgruntled veteran who had been part of this group. The officers in that program had to resign their commissions. Wiig ended up with the 70th Infantry Division, A Company, 274th Infantry Regiment [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 274th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division] at Camp Adair, Oregon [Annotator's Note: in Benton County, Oregon]. He ended up being a scout. At Camp Roberts [Annotator's Note: in Monterey County and San Luis Obispo County, California] in the desert, they thought they were going to North Africa. At Camp Adair they were in the woods and did not know where they were going. Growing up in Augusta, Maine, Wiig became an Eagle Scout [Annotator's Note: highest achievement in the Boy Scouts of America]. Being an Eagle Scout meant something. He loves geography and knows maps and how to live in the woods. The whole division moved to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri [Annotator's Note: in Pulaski County, Missouri] in July 1944. They went overseas in December 1944 out of Boston [Annotator's Note: Boston, Massachusetts] on the sister ship of the Lurline [Annotator's Note: SS Lurline]. He thinks it was the Mariposa [Annotator's Note: SS Mariposa]. They went to Marseilles [Annotator's Note: Marseilles, France] and took 40-and-eights [Annotator's Note: 40 and eight refers European railroad boxcars which could accommodate 40 standing men or eight standing horses] to northeast France at the south end of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. It was separate from the Bulge and was not involved. It was an adventure. The traveling did not mean much to him. He knew his countries and about them.

John Bache-Wiig, Jr.'s first combat objective was at Philippsbourg, France. On 4 and 5 January [Annotator's Note: January 1945] they were actively engaged and lost their first people. His work as an Eagle Scout [Annotator's Note: highest achievement in the Boy Scouts of America] helped them in crossing a field where the Germans held the heights and were shooting down at them. [Annotator's Note: Wiig shows the interviewer these movements on a map.] They had some killed and several wounded. They occupied a couple of buildings. Wiig went out and brought five of the wounded in. He went back across the field and reported to the command post that the area was secured. He went back to the group and was blown up by two mortar rounds. When he came to, he was lying in water up to his shoulders. He got up and found his rifle. He went across the field and got another wounded man. He took him to the others and then collapsed. [Annotator's Note: Wiig gets a book that talks about this battle.] He was out about half an hour. He came to and they gave him a jacket. His old one had 18 holes in it. He was a PFC [Annotator's Note: Private First Class], so he got a Bronze Star [Annotator's Note: the Bronze Star Medal is the fourth-highest award a United States service member can receive for a heroic or meritorious deed performed in a conflict with an armed enemy]. He had carried each man about 100 yards across the field one at a time. The sixth man was the only one he did not know. One was an officer who had been wounded in his butt and would not help himself. Lieutenant Price [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to verify identity] made him drag him back. Wiig did first aid work on most of them. That was his biggest contribution to the war. The original five were rescued before he was hit. Wiig figures it was his day to think that. He had to do it. He did not have a scratch on him but was bleeding from his nose and his ears from the impact. He was sent to a hospital when he collapsed. He was gone about a week before returning to his company [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 274th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division]. They had captured their objectives and were holding them.

John Bache-Wiig, Jr. and his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 274th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division] got involved in Northwind [Annotator's Note: Operation Nordwind, German offensive, 31 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. They [Annotator's Note: the Germans] tried to break through Philippsbourg [Annotator's Note: Philippsbourg, France], but they [Annotator's Note: the Americans] held it. Wiig was a scout. The Germans brought up a railway gun and they could hear it when it fired. They were not believed when they said what was happening. Finally American artillery came up and saw it. They shelled it and took it out. [Annotator's Note: Wiig gets a book out to show something to the interviewer.] This was in January 1945 and the last push of the Germans. They were pulled out and put near Stiring-Wendel [Annotator's Note: Stiring-Wendel, France], Alsting [Annotator's Note: Alsting, France], and Spicheren Heights [Annotator's Note: in Spicheren, France]. They were getting ready to go into Saarbrucken [Annotator's Note: Saarbrücken, Germany; February 1945]. When they got there, the war basically stopped for them. The Germans had retreated to the Rhine [Annotator's Note: Rhine River, Germany]. Wiig and his outfit just held up there. [Annotator's Note: Wiig shows some pictures of him and some men in Saarbrucken to the interviewer off-camera.] There was a lady's shop there with wigs. The guys were wearing the wigs and acting up. The regimental colonel came through and was fit to be tied [Annotator's Note: slang for someone being very angry] and told them to act like soldiers. Durgen [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling; unable to verify identity] had red, curly hair. The colonel thought it was a wig, grabbed it, and yanked. That was one embarrassed colonel.

John Bache-Wiig, Jr. and his outfit [Annotator's Note: Company A, 1st Battalion, 274th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division] were in the Rhine [Annotator's Note: Rhine River, Germany] area. He was kind of a troublemaker in the regiment, because he worked for the average soldier. When they were crossing on the Mariposa [Annotator's Note: SS Mariposa], they had a new company captain. They had trouble with him in the United States. He was within himself and would not listen to other people. He was sent to a training school and came back before going overseas. Wiig especially had trouble with him. On the boat, Wiig led a group to see the regimental commander. They told him they wanted another officer in charge. He gave them a new CO [Annotator's Note: commanding officer]. Wiig did that for the benefit of the company. The new CO was good and for the group. After the war was over and they were on occupation duty, Wiig was shipped to the regimental Headquarters Company [Annotator's Note: Headquarters Company, 274th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division]. They were in Dieburg [Annotator's Note: Dieburg, Germany] after the war and formed a rowing club. They trained some men there with two officers who had been rowers at their colleges. Wiig would row in single shells in the evening on the Rhine. As a group they had competitions. On 4 July 1945, they had their finals regatta. LIFE magazine [Annotator's Note: an American general-interest magazine known for the quality of its photography; 1883 - 2007] covered it. Wiig's boat had a large lead when the seat came off the track and they began to get water in. They finished a nose ahead with a boat almost full of water.

The 70th Division [Annotator's Note: 70th Infantry Division] sent the low-point [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] men out, and John Bache-Wiig, Jr. ended up in the 3rd Division [Annotator's Note: 3rd Infantry Division]. He had enough points there and ended up where all the war material being stockpiled. His job was to make lists to put on a teletype of all the trains, their car numbers, and what was on them. He learned to type on a German typewriter. He went out through northern France to Hoboken [Annotator's Note: Hoboken, New Jersey]. He was discharged from Devens [Annotator's Note: Fort Devens, in Ayer and Shirley, Massachusetts]. He was going to fly home but there was a blizzard. He got a taxi who took him to Augusta, Maine. His folks were waiting for him. They had asked what he wanted for dinner, and he told them lobster. That was his homecoming dinner. He used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] to go to the University of Maine [Annotator's Note: in Orono, Maine] in 1946. He got a degree in Entomology, the study of insects, in 1950. Wiig was set to go back into the Army and waive his disability to go into Preventive Medicine. He had been doing graduate work at the University of Florida [Annotator's Note: in Gainesville, Florida]. He went to Washington [Annotator's Note: Washington, D.C.] to sign the papers and was told they were not going to take him. He had waited three months and turned down other jobs. They sent him to the Department of Agriculture where he got a job in the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantines. He ended up going to Honolulu [Annotator's Note: Honolulu, Hawaii]. While there in January 1954, he got letter from Jean Smith who would eventually become his wife. She was a nurse in the VA [Annotator's Note: United States Department of Veterans Affairs] Hospital in Togus, Maine [Annotator's Note: Togus VA Medical Center]. His father was there as a patient. She wrote to say he was not expected to live, and Wiig should come home now if he wanted to see him. Wiig went home late in the afternoon, saw his father, and then went back the next morning. Wiig left to get lunch and his father died. He asked Jean to marry him. He returned to Hawaii and resigned that summer. He got married 6 November 1954. He had a 100 percent disability due to skin problems. On his honeymoon, he had to go to the hospital. He returned to the University of Florida to finish his degree. He quit and returned to Plant Quarantines. He was in Miami, Florida for 12 years and then Nogales [Annotator's Note: Nogales, Arizona] in 1968. He worked there until he retired in 1983.

The war did not change John Bache-Wiig, Jr. He expected what happened and he applied his Eagle Scout Annotator's Note: highest achievement in the Boy Scouts of America] training. While working in plant quarantines [Annotator's Note: after the war], he and four other inspectors formed a union. They established the first of its kind. He was promoted into management and people were getting jobs who should not have them. He and some others got a management union together. Both organizations are still in force. His military service was an experience he would not want to do again, but he is glad he did it and came out alive. Wiig feels that most Americans see the war as something in the past. He has a picture of his father after World War 1 in Woodland, Maine. He is surrounded at the first 4th of July after the war by GAR Veterans [Annotator's Note: Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization of Union veterans of the American Civil War, 12 April 1861 to 9 May 1865] in their Grand Army uniforms. Wiig feels that way when he is with young people in the present wars. He stayed active in the Eagle Scouts and became a Scout Master in 1968 and held it for 22 years. One of his first Eagle Scouts is now the Scout Master of that troop. It helped Wiig when he was in the service. They try to get their scouts to go in the service and several have. One was on an aircraft carrier on the deck crew. Wiig would like to see every kid put time in the Army and then go to school. They will be way ahead. [Annotator's Note: Wiig returns to his war experience.] In France, there was a church. As they approached it, nothing happened. They went into and it smelled. They went into the cellar and there were 12 civilian women and children and one elderly man who had been shot in his thigh. His leg was gangrenous [Annotator's Note: tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply]. Wiig and his squad got their sulfa pills [Annotator's Note: group of synthetic drugs used to treat bacterial infections] and Wiig bandaged and cleaned up the wounds of all of them. They told the other civilians about it. They cleared the town and the townspeople got them out. The elderly man had to have his leg amputated. This was one way his scouting training helped in the war.