The Ritzville Adams County Journal - Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887

— Editor’s Note: This is the second in a three-part series on William ‘Bill’ Sager. Part 3 will publish June 14.

RITZVILLE – Barely out of his teenage years, Bill Sager was drafted into the Army in May 1969.

“I had a feeling deep in my heart that if I went to Vietnam as an infantryman, I wouldn’t come back alive,” he said.

So he joined the regular Army, which required a three-year commitment. He signed up for a seaman course and went to basic training at Fort Lewis.

Because of his prior manual labor in the woods, he was already physically fit.

“I was in worse shape a...