BY MICAIAH SIMON, Sophomore
BLYTHEWOOD - W.C. Ferguson, a retired U.S. Army veteran usually wearing his cap of service, takes care of his wife and children in his cozy family home.
Just by glancing at William Carlton Ferguson, one may not believe the things he has experienced throughout his lifetime in service.
Ferguson goes by WC and is quite the family man. He can often be seen wearing his Veterans cap.
Ferguson is a strongly patriotic member of the Blythewood community.
Service
“I don’t regret any of my 32 years 4 months and 24 days served in the United States Army,” said Ferguson.
Because of the military, Ferguson has been in areas all over the Southeast United States, Taiwan, Guam, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, and other areas in Southeast Asia.
Ferguson is a Veteran of the Vietnam War. His boldest memories of the war included helping the tribes people
in Vietnam and trying to make their lives better in any way he could.
He claims his favorite portion of being in the military was the time he served in Special Forces.
Carly Clark, Ferguson's granddaughter and sophomore at Blythewood high school, says she loves the war stories he tells and remembers specific ones about the Vietnam War.
“There was one where he found the head of the chief of a Vietnamese tribe on a stick outside of the camp, and this other story he told my class about the time the enemy accidentally bombed an orphanage instead of them,” said Clark.
Max Lenker, Ferguson’s grandson and junior at Blythewood high describes his grandfather as laid back and “pretty interesting” and a man who has the best war stories.
“He used to capture the enemy, give them a dummy grenade and make them believe it was real in order to interrogate them,” Lenker said.
According to Ferguson's family members, he enjoys telling war stories and sharing his experiences with others and loves when people ask him about it.
Ferguson having a joking personality laughs at the thought of what his scariest memory would be.
“The scariest thing I’ve ever faced? Traffic on the highway,” he chuckled.
On a serious note he says that the scariest things that have happened during the war were facing apparitions daily, being blown up but above all the scariest thing to him was being surrounded by the enemy.
The one thing Ferguson is proudest of, is his accomplishment of never losing one of his American men in combat which few men can say.
From his service, Ferguson has received four Bronze Stars because of his acts of courageousness during combat. Bronze stars are awarded for committing a heroic act of bravery.
Being a Veteran
Ferguson is the epitome of patriotism. He says the most important things to him are God, family, and his country.
Ferguson claims he loved his time in the military and wouldn’t have changed anything if he could go back, but if he had to choose he would have become a pilot.
Post-service, Ferguson has tried several professions including real estate and car services. He also focuses on church service and keeping his wife and children happy. Having been in the military is important to him but he believes veterans today aren’t treated as well as they should be.
“Veterans aren’t treated very well, not necessarily for me; but they should have a priority for medical treatment,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson believes the best part of doing his service is the thanks he receives from people.
“Not a day that goes by when someone doesn’t thank me for my service,” Ferguson said.
