Captain Jim Fickler: “Full of Life; Full of Fun”

On an unseasonably mild, rainy, Sunday December afternoon, Nancy Wichert revisits her hometown and stops by the former corner drug store she would frequent as a kid, which is now the Coffee Corner Bistro. She reminisces about her brother Jim’s upbeat personality and his passions in life, like the outdoors, athletics and flying.

Wichert was the oldest of four children. Edwin “Jim” Fickler was two years younger than her, her sister, Colleen was seven years younger, and her youngest brother, Gary was 15 years younger.

The Fickler family grew up in Kewaskum, Wisconsin, at a time where their home was only one of three on the street.  As time went on, the neighborhood grew and so did the memories. They’re tough to revisit at times because everything changed when Jim went to Vietnam.  The body of the young man from Washington County would never come home.

Wichert recalls the neighborhood being close. They enjoyed having fun outdoors, playing night games (when their parents allowed), having a soda or malt at the local corner drug store, or seeing a movie at the theatre on Main Street for only 12 cents.

One of their favorite spots to play outside was out in Lake Seven in the Kettle Moraine State Forest, which resulted in an accident that followed Jim Fickler around for years.

“He had a diving accident out in Lake Seven in the Kettle Moraine,” said Wichert. “They had a tall slide there, the platform was about 14- feet high, but they would stand on it, push themselves off it and shallow dive. So one day when he was up there, his foot slipped; instead of pushing off, he went straight down and broke his neck. He had a body cast he had to wear for almost his entire sophomore year.”

The neck injury did not stop Jim, as he continued to play basketball and football throughout high school.

Fickler’s high school basketball coach and teacher Howard Zemlicka, recalls when Fickler got out of his body cast and started shooting free throws again for the first time.

“He was a little stiff at first,” said Zemlicka. “But he played and contributed quite a bit, he was big, took up a lot space and got those rebounds.”

Zemlicka also enjoyed shooting Ping-Pong at the Fickler’s and joking around with him about cars. Fickler drove Chevrolets, Zemlicka drove Fords and Fickler would always give Zemlicka a hard time about that.

Fickler graduated from Kewaskum High School and went on to Steven’s Point for College and enrolled in the Natural Resource Program. He was a big outdoorsman, loved hunting, fishing, anything outdoors.

He also enrolled in the ROTC program while at Steven’s Point and joined the Marine Corps. While enrolled, he discovered his passion for flying. He then concentrated on flying and getting his pilot license.  His thought after the military, he planned to be a commercial pilot.

“He was such an upbeat guy, full of life, full of fun!” said Wichert.

Wichert says the only time she saw her brother sad was when medical records came up with a hairline crack in his neck from his neck injury from his sophomore year.  Because of this injury, they wouldn’t clear him to go to Vietnam.

“He wanted to go,” says Wichert.  “He wanted to go so bad.”

Fickler had to get four doctors to sign off that his previous neck injury wouldn’t be a problem with his flying.  Fickler then left for Vietnam in 1968.

In Jan. 17 1969,  Fickler’s plane was struck by enemy fire and crashed a mile away. Fickler and 1^st Lt. Robert J. Kuhlman were the only ones aboard the plane. Immediately, Search and Rescue crews were launched and initiated a visual and electronic search for him. No parachutes, no emergency electronic beepers heard and no voice contact could be established with the two on board. Ground searches were not possible due to heavy enemy activity in the area.

Both Fickler and Kulhman were listed as Missing in Action.

“I thought he was going to come back because he was such a survivor,” says Wichert. “When he was 6-years-old, he had spinal meningitis and they didn’t think he would live. Plus, the whole neck thing; that was a huge blow.”

Fickler’s parents searched over a decade for him. They would fly everywhere across the United States, looking for new information on his whereabouts. It became an obsession for the parents.

“When this happened, it was like the rest of us didn’t matter anymore,” said Wichert. “There was no more Christmas…life for them more or less just stopped.”

Wichert says it wasn’t until the passing of Fickler’s younger brother, Gary, that a closure came to their parents about Jim’s death.

“Although they were devastated by this, when my younger brother died, it was bad, but there was like a closure to it, you know what I mean?” said Wichert. “With Jim, they just always expected…because they had so many prisoners of war at the time… that he maybe he was? And maybe he would be back some day.”

Gary Fickler passed away in a car crash. His car ran off the road and wasn’t found until the next morning.

Jim and Gary Fickler have a joint grave is located in Peace Cemetery in Kewaskum, Wisconsin. Both were 26-years-old when they passed. His body is not in it.

Jim Fickler is one of 37 veterans still Missing in Action from Wisconsin.