In Recognition of Veterans Day - Coffee with Vets [Image 11 of 25]

BOISE, ID, UNITED STATES

09.04.2019

Photo by Thomas Alvarez 

Idaho Army National Guard

Bart Weseloh, 75, U.S. Navy, 1962-66.

Weseloh said he was born and raised in Emmett, Idaho, a small rural community just west of Boise.

In the Navy he was trained to support aviation and aircraft operations. He worked the flight line parking aircraft and doing maintenance. His Navy career first took him to Adak Island in the Aleutians and then to Miramar Naval Air Station, now a Marine Corps Air Station. He says he regrets not staying in the Navy.

Life after the Navy was difficult. He was living in Red Bluff, California and working as a heavy equipment operator. He said he was forced into retirement. His money ran out within a couple of years. His father and brother, both died of alcoholism and so with no living relatives he made his mind up.

“I decided to go up into the mountains and die,” said Weseloh.

In the mountains outside Red Bluff he lived in a homeless camp where he once went 17 days without eating. He traded his truck to another homeless resident in return for a one-way bus ticket to Boise. He found his way to the Idaho State Veterans Home 11 years ago.

“This place saved my life’” said Weseloh.

He spends his days now helping out around the home grounds. He has helped wash vehicles, some summer mornings he might be raking the front yard or removing debris from the parking lot drainage. He gets around the campus grounds on his bicycle. His computer was malfunctioning some time ago. Strapped for the cash to get it fixed, he taught himself computer repair, and now occasionally helps other home residents with their computer problems.

• Date Taken: 09.04.2019
• Date Posted: 11.08.2019 10:29
• Photo ID: 5897826
• VIRIN: 191101-Z-XK920-0011
• Resolution: 2700x1800
• Size: 1.7 MB
• Location: BOISE, ID, US