Going fishing with a soldier, 43 years later

To The Eagle:

My name is Bill Wiester of Moses Lake. I was raised in Skamokawa when I was a youngster. When I was 21, I was sent to Vietnam with the 82nd Airborne Division and served as an infantry platoon sergeant.

In June of 1969, I received a letter from my mother, Jean Wiester. She attended Naselle High School in the 1940s and has sinced passed away. I read this letter, and a paragraph talked about my first cousin, Bob Wegdahl of Cathlamet. My mother wrote that Bob was going to take me salmon fishing on the Columbia near Puget Island.

I had not read my Vietnam letters for 43 years, until last month. I called Bob and read him the letter dated 43 years ago. Bob said, "Let's go fishing!"

The picture tells a thousand words. The fishing trip was on Friday, June 15, a promise kept after 43 years.

Bill Wiester

Moses Lake