Raymond "Rusty" Charles Wagner III - USMC 1967-69

Rusty Wagner grew up in Willoughby Hills, Ohio, and his family had a history of military service, his father was in the Navy in WWII and his uncle was in the Korean War. Rusty attended Kent State University but enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1967 and was deployed to Vietnam in December 1967 serving with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, near the DMZ at Camp Carroll, The Rock Pile, LZ Stud, Cua Viet, Cam Lo and LZ Gurkha. His MOS was 0311 (basic rifleman).

Rusty describes his routine of going out on patrol, on ambushes and forward watch leading to severe sleep deprivation and fatigue. “When I was on these listening posts the Army gave us a starlight scope and I was seeing North Vietnamese soldiers walking with their rifles, holding it by the barrel. I was hallucinating. Sleep deprivation. You start seeing and hearing things and yeah, yeah, it's crazy.”

Rusty survived several close calls, including mortar attacks that wounded or killed friends. On September 2, 1968, Rusty received injuries to his head, arm, and leg due to a mortar attack, and was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor and Purple Heart. “Other guys were way hurt worse than me, arms and legs blown off, you know. I was happy just to get out of there, to be honest with. All I can say is, blind luck. A lot of people, they tell you, your training's going to keep you alive. This is going to keep you alive. Obey orders. Nah, it's just blind luck.”

Special thanks to:

American Legion Post 28 in Key West, FL

and

Rusty’s friend Seymoy for helping us record photos and additional video