By Bruce Barton

Wallace Erichsen Jr. would still love to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation even at a time like this. Combating terrorism was one of his specialties.

Erichsen, 57, was forced into retirement in April after a 30-plus-year career with the FBI. The 1962 Los Altos High School graduate spent much of his career stationed in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he continues to live today as a private investigator.

“I’m miffed that it didn’t happen when I was on duty,” said Erichsen, whose father, Wallace Erichsen Sr., still lives in Los Altos. Erichsen Jr. came back to Los Altos before the Sept. 11 disasters to help his father paint the house.

Erichsen’s comment does not reflect macho bluster. In fact, the former agent is humble, soft-spoken and talks fondly of the team effort in the FBI he loved being a part of. He considers a career highlight the FBI’s investigation into the 1995 Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing, in which he relished “participation with good investigators.”

Like that case, in which Middle Eastern terrorists were initially suspected, Erichsen cautioned against quick conclusions in these latest crimes without clear-cut evidence. “We don’t even know for sure that it’s (Osama) bin Laden,” he said. “He has not been (for certain) identified as the perpetrator.”

Erichsen supports U.S. military involvement in connection with other law enforcement in attacking terrorism. “This problem is something beyond criminal justice agencies,” he said. “We need to work together with the military to come up with a proper solution.”

Erichsen, who majored in dairy farming at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, discovered the FBI through his experience in the U.S. Marines that included a year in Vietnam. The Virginia-based FBI Academy happened to be near the location where he was stationed. “The FBI was going to hire 1,000 agents,” Erichsen recalled, to focus on the war against organized crime. He sent in an application and was hired.

He said airport and airplane security needs definite improvement. “The cockpit door should be more secure.” Erichsen added he came out to California with a 2-inch Swiss Army knife and went through security without a problem.

Although he supports increased security measures, Erichsen cautioned, “We can’t let terrorism change everything. We have to get on with our lives to some extent.”