Sound and Visual Collection
Carl G. Oeljen was born in Waseca, Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota's medical school.
Oeljen served in the United States Army for three years, working as an orthopedic surgeon in the 95th Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang, Vietnam from 1970 to 1971 during the Vietnam War. Following the war, Oeljen completed a residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He married Carol Bauman in 1965 and practiced medicine in Spokane, Washington from 1975 until his death in 2004.
The audio letters in this collection consist of recordings made by Carl G. Oeljen, originally on cassette tape, and sent to his long-time friend Bill Wolfe and his wife, Joan, in 1970 and 1971 while Oeljen was stationed in Vietnam. The first audio file contains a introductory prologue by Bill Wolfe, recorded in 2004, describing his friendship with Oeljen and their correspondence during the Vietnam War.
Digital masters of the audio files are maintained on the Society's secure digital collections storage servers and are managed and preserved in accordance with archival best practices.
Duplicate audio correspondence: Library of Congress American Folklife Center Veterans History Project.
Accession number: AV2016.5
Catalog ID number: 008615412
Digital version
Introductory prologue by Bill Wolfe to the audio letters recorded by Oeljen during his time in Vietnam.
Digital version - Side 1
Digital version - Side 2
Digital version