Oldest WWII vet in Bald Knob recalls service

BY STACY HUDSON 

Staff Writer    05/27/2001

For the oldest living World War II veteran in Bald Knob, lying in the hospital for 97 days straight was enough to make anyone want to forget about the war.

"When you've come out of a place like that, you kind of want to forget about it," said 82-year-old Vernon Feagin.

Feagin was shot in his right shoulder by a sniper in WWII during one of the attempts to evade the Japanese from islands the troops were fighting on. He said the shot went through the back and came out the front, nearly tearing his arm from his shoulder.

As the paramedics were dragging him off the field, he was shot again, this time in the elbow, and this time it did cut his arm in half.

Feagin nearly died from loss of blood, he noted, adding, "I'm just one of the lucky ones."

To ward off infection, doctors administered penicillin every three hours around the clock, but Feagin had an allergic reaction to the medicine, so he continually had a rash on his arm.

After spending nearly 100 days in the hospital, Feagin underwent physical therapy to learn how to walk again.

When he stood up, he remembered, "I couldn't even feel the floor with my feet, " adding he couldn't tell he was standing on anything.

After his release from the hospital Feagin wore a cast for several weeks. He explained that the cast went all the way up under his arm and came out to the side of his waist and was metal.

"It's been a rough battle," he commented. "It's something people wouldn't have any idea about... unless you've been there."

Feagin still has a piece of a shell in that arm, he noted, adding that it was first discovered when he went in one time for an X-ray of his lung.

His shoulder still hurts and is tender, he said, and the wound still turns a little green from time to time and has to be cleaned out.

Feagin received a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart, among several others, for his battles fought as a young man in his early 20s.

He and his wife, Nell, live in Bald Knob.