“I was a squad corpsman and we did operations and night ambushes, people got killed.
I got shot at.”
Chief Dental Technician Myrl Wallace, USN
The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce the February 2020 story of the month has been selected to recognize the service of United States Navy Veteran, Chief Dental Technician Myrl Wallace. The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program was privileged to interview Captain Richard Galecki at the USS Nimitz CVN 68 reunion being held at Philadelphia Pennsylvania in the Fall of 2018.
Myrl Wallace grew up in Southern California and joined the Navy for a fresh start and reported to San Diego for Basic Training. Upon successfully completing basic training, he was ordered to the USS John R. Craig DD 885. After a short time on the USS John R. Craig DD 885 he was sent to Hospital Corps School and Dental Technician School. In 1966 he was assigned to the First Marine Division and went to 
the headquarters battalion and various Marine unites in Vietnam. He recalled, "I was a squad corpsman and we did operations and night ambushes, people got killed. I got shot at. We would go and do civic actions at various villages.” He performed a number of medical duties in the field from treating combat wounds and pulling teeth, to delivering a baby for a Vietnamese civilian in need. After serving in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968, he retuned home and met a grateful Marine, who he treated after he was shot in the chest. Wallace’s next assignment would be in Hawaii, then to the USS Jason AR 8, assignments around the Pacific ring and the Naval School of Health Sciences in San Diego.
After becoming a Chief, he was ordered to the USS Nimitz in January of 1979. On the USS Nimitz he served as the Dental Chief and also ran the evening news program while at sea. He remarked, "All days were generally pretty good, the only bad day was May 26th, 1981, the crash on the flight deck. I was in 
the Chief’s mess around midnight...then they called away, fire on the flight deck." After the accident occurred, Wallace and the medical department quickly worked to secure and treat the wounded. He praised the crew who worked to battle the fire and shared, "the training that I forced upon everyone at periods of time when they should have been enjoying themselves after work, obviously worked because they knew what to do.”
The United States Navy Memorial honors United States Navy Veteran, Chief Dental Technician Myrl Wallace, featured within this series titled, Tales from the Navy Log, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site at http://navylog.navymemorial.org/stories-of-service.
To view this interview please visit the USS Nimitz CVN 68 Collection on the Navy Memorial Stories of Service page.
Interview of Myrl Wallace Part One Summary of Service in the United States Navy from 1964 to 1984
Interview of Myrl Wallace Part Two Joining the Navy in 1964 and First Assignment on the John R. Craig DD 885
Interview of Myrl Wallace Part Three Service With the First Marine Division from 1966 to 1968 and Memories of the Vietnam War
Interview of Myrl Wallace Part Four Returning Home After Vietnam and Memories of the USS Jason AR 8
Interview of Myrl Wallace Part Five Joining the Crew of the USS Nimitz in 1979 and Memories of the TV Studio
Interview of Myrl Wallace Part Six Memories of the Crash of an EA-6B in 1981 on the USS Nimitz
Interview of Myrl Wallace Part Seven Life After the Navy and Reflections of Service on the USS Nimitz