Veteran of the Month: Wayne Weichel

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Neb - The Jefferson County Commissioners honored their Veteran of the Month for August, 2023 on Tuesday.

Wayne Weichel received the honor in front of family and friends at the courthouse. Weichel humbly accepted the honor, appreciating what the county does for its veterans. 

"I'm glad they honor veterans," Weichel said. "Those guys who came back from Vietnam didn't get any recognition. I don't really think I deserve this, because I didn't serve actively, but I was in for five years... I had three years of inactive, but I could have been called up at that time."

Weichel grew up in rural Jefferson County on a family farm.  He attended K-8^th grade in a rural one room school house at Kesterson District 6 just southwest of Fairbury. He joined the Army Reserve while a senior in high school and was sworn in two weeks after graduation in June, 1963.  He attended Basic Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and after graduating from Basic Training spent six months of Personnel School training assigned to the 16^th Corp in Omaha.  He returned home to his Fairbury unit only to find they did not need a Personnel Specialist so he became a “Light Weapons Instructor.”

Weichel taught classes while in the service in the 1960's, took drill sergeant school, and July, 1968 marked the end of 18 months of earning an Electrical Technology Degree from Milford.

Weichel worked a sales job in Lincoln, before returning to Fairbury in 1972, where he spent 42 years after working as a Plant Superintendent for Fairbury Light Plant. He remains a 40-year member of the Elks Lodge, a 27-year member of the American Legion and lives in Fairbury with his wife, April, of over 53 years.