THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The article in the Edina Historical Society newsletter after your death is moving. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever…..

Trygve Egge was attending his freshman year at St. Olaf College when Eric Craig died in Vietnam. Thank you all for remembering my brother. I visit his grave nearly every Memorial weekend.

We can never truly repay the debt we owe our fallen heroes. Rest in peace 2LT. Egge, you are not forgotten. Semper Fidelis!

Second Lieutenant Eric Craig Egge, Served with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force.

The following article about Eric Egge came from the Edina Historical Society Newsletter in Minnesota in 2011. Thanks to the staff and members of the society:

ERIC CRAIG EGGE
Eric Egge could have avoided the draft into an unpopular war. Because of a wrestling injury to his knee, he received a medical waiver from serving in Vietnam but he worked hard to get into shape to pass the physical and get accepted into the Marines.
"It's hard to know now exactly why he enlisted," said his brother Trygve Egge, who was five years younger and still in high school when Eric died. He said his brother might have seen serving in the military as a "pathway to government work" such as law enforcement or an FBI career.
Just as likely, Trygve added, Eric was motivated by patriotism. As a graduate of St. Olaf College, he was older than the typical war protestor and still viewed military service as part of his duty as a citizen.
Eric wrestled both in high school and college, and he was part of a "rough and tumble bunch" who viewed military service as a challenge. "There was never the question of resistance or opposition to the war at that point," Trygve said.
Sadly, Egge completed officer's training but died within eight days of arriving in Vietnam. He was killed by artillery fire when in action with the Third Marine Division in Quang Tri Province.
Called Craig by his family when he was growing up, Egge preferred Eric when he was in high school and the military.
His family was living at 6408 Mendelssohn Lane at the time of Eric's death. They had moved to Edina when Eric was still in high school so he continued to attend Minnetonka schools.
Eric's older sister was living in Thailand with her husband, who was also serving in the military. Pregnant with her first child, she flew home to help her grieving parents for a while. Her son was born within two months of his uncle's death, and was named Eric in his honor.
His older brother was in the Peace Corps in Bolivia, and Trygve was still in high school at Hopkins.
As anti-war sentiment rose, "people unknowingly said some hurtful things" about those who served in Vietnam, Trygve remembered. He opposed the war too eventually, but he always valued the sacrifice of his brother and others who served.
Trygve was young enough that he was not drafted before the war ended. He became an attorney, but Eric's life was cut short before he could decide on a career path.
"He was famous for really listening to people and giving good advice," Trygve said, noting that Eric had a degree in psychology, and would have made a good counselor or social worker, if he didn't pursue the more traditional, for the time, law enforcement career.