CENTER FOR U.S. WAR
VETERANS' ORAL HISTORIES
Cold War
Melinda Wagner
Cold War Oral History Interview
US Army, Dental Corps
Date: November 2, 2017
Interviewer: Carol Fowler
Summarizer: Angelica Juliani
Veterans History Project
Summary
(Courtesy Facebook)
Melinda Wagner was born in May 1957 in Paterson, New Jersey and grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Her father served in World War II and landed in Normandy during D-Day. Wagner’s aunt was an Army nurse who was stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey for most of her career.
Wagner remembered listening with interest and respect whenever her father spoke about his war experiences. She stated, “I always admired him for what he did, and how courageous he was….” Her father had a major influence on her joining the military, and he was not surprised when she did.
Wagner was a dental student when a recruiter visited her school looking for student recruits to fill a new program in the Army Reserve and National Guard, which was short of dentists; she was the only woman who joined from her school. Three other women joined from Newark; the four dentists formed a group of friends over the next six years while serving in the New Jersey National Guard’s 194th Medical Detachment.
Commissioned as a second lieutenant, Wagner had trouble adjusting to military service during her two-week summer training periods, since her summer service would sometimes interfere with her civilian dental work; yet, she always managed to work it out. On her monthly weekend duty, she provided dental services for military dependents who lived at Fort Dix.
During her time in the service as a student, Wagner’s main job was to supervise packing medical supplies into military vehicles. Once she graduated from dental school, she was promoted to first lieutenant, then captain, and then was involved in medical transportation management, as well as dental services.
Wagner was assigned to West Orange. Unfortunately, during her time in West Orange, she faced severe sexual harassment from a colonel, who is now deceased. Wagner was forced to visit his office, as well, as she had no one to report these incidents to. She was afraid of potential backlash, as are many sexual harassment victims. Wagner stated that she hopes it is now safer and easier for women in the service who face sexual harassment to report it in a safe environment.
Wagner’s favorite place during her National Guard service was Fort Drum in the summer, which was near the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. She discussed the lack of military training she received, and compared it to the surgeons on the television show MASH, such as the not knowing how to properly salute their superior officers. “We were dentists first, and officers of the New Jersey National Guard second,” Wagner said, when talking about the lack of military training. She was in the National Guard and then Reserve service from 1981 to 1991.
Wagner left the service as a captain, and is currently engaged in a program that gives Veterans discounted dental services. She believes that being grateful to Veterans is extremely important, and feels that during her time in the service, the country was still in a “post-Vietnam-War era” meaning that civilians did not care for people in the military. Dr. Melinda Wagner can now proudly walk around with her Veteran cap on, and feels happy when people thank her.
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