Wendell Affield

Wendell Affield, the third of nine children born to Barbara Affield, grew up on a small farm in northern Minnesota. He was born in NYC and moved to Minnesota, as a toddler in 1949, when his mother met his stepfather, Herman Affield, through Cupid's Columns. In 1960 Affield, twelve at the time, and his siblings were placed in foster homes after his mother was committed to Fergus Falls State Hospital. At sixteen Affield left home, rode the rails and lived in hobo camps.
At seventeen Affield enlisted in the navy. He was mid-way through his first tour in Vietnam in 1966 when he was emancipated by Beltrami County Juvenile Court; it was also the year his class graduated from high school. In January 1968 Affield returned to Vietnam as the cox'n of a river patrol boat with the Mobile Riverine Force. On August 18, 1968 he was wounded in an ambush and medevaced home.
After leaving the navy in 1969, he found work as a meat cutter apprentice in the Chicago area. A few years later he became a manager, a position he held with various companies for almost thirty years. In 1980 he and his family returned to northern Minnesota. After retiring in 2001 Affield enrolled in Bemidji State University, where, over the years, his Vietnam essays evolved into Muddy Jungle Rivers (2012).
In 2010 after his mother died, Affield discovered a treasure trove of family history locked in the chickenhouse of the farm he was raised on-letters dating back to 1822. He also discovered a series of 1940s singles publications that his stepfather ordered after returning from WWII. Herman, 1940s LonelyHearts Search, Chickenhouse Chronicles Book I was published in 2017
Remembering his homeless time when riding the rails as a youth, Affield volunteers at Bemidji Community Food Shelf. He works on his Chickenhouse Chronicles series, speaks to veteran groups about PTSD, and leads a Veteran's Writer Group at his local VA Clinic. He is a 2017 recipient of Minnesota Humanities Center "Veteran's Voices Award" for his work with the underserved in his community. He and his wife, Patti, live in northern Minnesota. They have two children and several grandchildren. Sadly, their son, Jeffry, died in 2015.
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