Senior Scholars Oral History Interview Dwayne Westfall, Interviewee Robert Zimdahl, Interviewer May 12, 2016 Robert Zimdahl: My God it does. Give us your full name and date of birth. Dwayne Westfall: Dwayne Gene Westfall. November 21st, 1938. Robert Zimdahl: Where were born? Dwayne Westfall: I was born on a small farm in Aberdeen, Idaho. It's southeastern Idaho. We grew row crops and had a feeding operation. Robert Zimdahl: You grew up there? Dwayne Westfall: Yes, I grew up there. Of course, we can't forget potatoes. That was our main crop. Robert Zimdahl: Oh. Yeah. Tell us about your parents and what they did. Dwayne Westfall: My father was originally born in Sarcoxie, Missouri. They immigrated out to Idaho when his older brother started the homestead out in the desert, just west of the Snake River. He moved out when he was in the 7th/8th grade. He went to high school at Aberdeen High School. Robert Zimdahl: Your father? Dwayne Westfall: My father did. Then, he started renting farms and finally bought a farm. That's the main farm that we lived on. My mother still lives there. Robert Zimdahl: Oh. Dwayne Westfall: She's 100 years old and still living on the farm independently. Robert Zimdahl: Your mother was a mother, a housewife? Dwayne Westfall: Yes. She was. She worked on the farm. Robert Zimdahl: Your parent's education? Dwayne Westfall: My father wanted to be a lawyer but he ran out of money after the first year of college. So, he went back and went to the farm and worked with his dad and his older brother for a few years. My mother, I don't even believe she finished high school. Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). Do you have siblings? Dwayne Westfall: I have one brother. He lives around Arco, Idaho. He spent his life working in the airline industry as an airplane mechanic and retired from there. He moved back to Idaho. Robert Zimdahl: When you were a young boy, how did you spend your time? Dwayne Westfall: I spent my time working on the farm. Before was I was old enough to work on the farm, I spent my time riding horses with my cousin. Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). Dwayne Westfall: Around the farm. We had a lot of work to do on the farm so I spent all my time working on the farm. Robert Zimdahl: Other than your father and mother, were there some people who influenced you, mentors? Dwayne Westfall: Yes. There were two individuals that really influenced me. These were when I was in college. I was in FarmHouse Fraternity at the University of Idaho. We had two advisors, Dr. Ross and Dr. Materno. They were very close to us. We were a very small fraternity, academically based. They really influenced my decision. I saw how they were impacting and influencing young people and I decided at that time that I wanted to influence young people the way they did. When I was a junior in college, I decided I wanted to be a professor. Robert Zimdahl: When you were a young boy, were there any special formative experiences that made you what you are? Dwayne Westfall: Well, my father... I expressed interest in staying on the farm. But, my father told me and I remember his exact words. He said, Dwayne, there's a lot easier ways to make a living in agriculture than farming. Those were the words of advice that I took. Robert Zimdahl: Your mother still lives on the farm but she's not a farmer? Dwayne Westfall: No. We sold the farm. We have the house, and a little bit of area there. Robert Zimdahl: Where was your elementary education? Dwayne Westfall: I went to elementary in Aberdeen and high school in Aberdeen. Robert Zimdahl: Was it a good education? Dwayne Westfall: I thought it was an excellent education at the time. Mainly driven by two or three teachers. They also had a big impact on my decision to go to college. Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. What were your best subjects? Dwayne Westfall: How do you mean? Most interesting or best grades? Robert Zimdahl: You choose. Dwayne Westfall: I always liked chemistry and math. I remember I wanted to take auto mechanics. The principal called me and said, Dwayne, you're going to college aren't you? I said, Yeah. I am. He said, I don't want to you to take auto mechanics. I want you to take some math and chemistry in preparation for college. I took his advice and it was very good advice. Robert Zimdahl: Good advice. Based on what you said, I assume your father and mother's attitude were very supportive of education. Dwayne Westfall: Absolutely. Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Yeah. When you were in high school, you said you were going to college. Did you have a clear vision of where you were going? Not place, but what you were going to do? Dwayne Westfall: I just knew it would be agriculture related. I thought about agricultural engineering. Then, I decided against that. I knew it was going to be something agriculture. Robert Zimdahl: When you were in high school and as a young boy, were you a reader? Dwayne Westfall: Not particularly. Robert Zimdahl: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). Neither was I. Dwayne Westfall: I was too busy having fun doing other things. Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. What other things were fun? Dwayne Westfall: There was friends, fishing, hunting, swimming out in the reservoir. Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Yeah. Did you have any jobs off the farm? Dwayne Westfall: After I went to college, my father cut back on the acreage he was farming because I was the youngest one and it left him with only one hired hand. I worked at the Aberdeen Experiment Station during the summers as a technician for an agricultural engineer working on irrigation. Robert Zimdahl: How big of a farm did your dad have? Dwayne Westfall: We had 160 acres on the home place and then we rented another 80 acres of potato ground out of what we called the desert, which was under side roll irrigation system. Robert Zimdahl: Were you ever in the military? Dwayne Westfall: Yes. Robert Zimdahl: When and what branch? Dwayne Westfall: When I went to the University of Idaho, I went through the ROTC program. When I graduated I was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the Chemical Corps. Robert Zimdahl: In the army? Dwayne Westfall: In the army. Robert Zimdahl: The Chemical Corps because you'd majored in Chemistry or because they put you there? Dwayne Westfall: I think it was because they had a need for people to do... This was during the Cold War period, 1961 to 1963. I look back at it and I think the reason was because I had an agricultural background. I had a degree and they had a need for people to do biological warfare research related to crops at the U.S. Army Biological Laboratory in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Robert Zimdahl: Let's go back to that in a minute. Where did you go to college? Dwayne Westfall: University of Idaho. Robert Zimdahl: In Moscow? Dwayne Westfall: Yes. Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. When did you graduate? Dwayne Westfall: 1961 Robert Zimdahl: '61. How did you pick your major? Dwayne Westfall: That's real interesting. Like I said, I started out in Ag Engineering and I didn't really like that. I went over to Ag Econ and I didn't really like that. I was talking to my advisor in Ag Econ at the time. He said, based upon your background and your interest, you need to go talk to a guy over in agronomy, Geo Baker. I went over and talked with him. We talked for a length of time. He said, why don't you come back tomorrow and I'll have an outline of the courses that I would like you take if you major in agronomy. I went back the next day. He had all of the courses outlined on a piece paper, each semester, what I would take if I would major in agronomy. Robert Zimdahl: You were a freshman or sophomore then? Dwayne Westfall: I was a sophomore. That individual had a big impact on my life just because he took an interest in me. Robert Zimdahl: Did you any extra‐curricular activities when you were an undergraduate? Dwayne Westfall: Undergraduate? Robert Zimdahl: Yeah. Dwayne Westfall: Yes. I was active in my FarmHouse Fraternity leadership. I was active in the Ag Club. I can't remember other things. Robert Zimdahl: When you finished your bachelor's degree in... What did you say, '61? Dwayne Westfall: '61. Robert Zimdahl: Then you went directly into the army? Dwayne Westfall: Yes. Robert Zimdahl: Biological warfare related to plants. Say some more about that. Dwayne Westfall: I was station at the U.S. Army Biological Laboratory in Fort Detrick, Maryland. It had three phases of research: anti‐crop warfare, anti‐personnel warfare, and anti‐animals. It was all related to biological agents. It was top secret at the time. I don't know how much I can really talk about because I don't know whether or not it's still classified. Basically, what I was doing was studying the epidemiology of stem rust of wheat. Robert Zimdahl: Oh. Mm‐hmm (affirmative). Dwayne Westfall: With the ultimate goal of targeting the red bastia of Russia, which was Ukraine. Robert Zimdahl: They never did that, did they? Dwayne Westfall: No. Robert Zimdahl: Was that a good thing that they didn't do it? Dwayne Westfall: At the time, during the Cold War, anything that we could do against Russia was a good thing as far as the Army was concerned, the way that we were trained and that type of thing.