Vietnam Veterans reunited after Google search

Vietnam veterans reunited in Wood County
May 7, 2012
By JEFFREY SAULTON
Parkersburg News and Sentinel

LUBECK - Charles Beagle and John Wikle, who served together in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, recently reunited after not seeing each other for about 40 years.

From 1970 to 1971, the two were members of 1st Battalion, 5th Division, Co. E, 1st Cavalry in a mortar platoon, but when they returned to the U.S. they were sent to Fort Riley, Kan., and then went their separate ways.

Wikle said they had about three months left in their tours with the military at that time. At Fort Riley they were in the 1st Division.

Beagle moved to Parkersburg where he worked for Ormet Corp., where he had worked before he was drafted, as a mechanic and later at Tri-State Roofing and Sheet Metal as a HVAC technician. Wikle went back to Clarksville, Ga., where he worked at a number of jobs, finally retiring from the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Wikle said the first time they had any contact after their discharge was about eight years ago.

"My oldest son is in the military and he was asking me questions about my service in Vietnam," he said. "One thing led to another and we started doing some searches on Google and we came up with Charles and others. We located two or three friends through Google."
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