Terry Musser was born on November 15, 1947 and has lived in the Black River Falls area for most of his life. A farmer by trade, Musser served two tours in Vietnam as a paratrooper. His first tour of duty (1965-1966) was with 1st Cavalry Division. On his second tour (1967-1968) he served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Between his tours of duty he served with the Signal Company 6th Special Forces at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. His military service led him to be active in veterans affairs both in and out of office. His military record also proved to be problematic later in his political career when he led some to believe that he was a member of the Green Berets when in fact his unit was only attached to the famous group.
Musser was elected as Representative of the 92nd district of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1984 and held his seat until 2008. The 92nd district covers portions of Clark, Jackson, and Monroe counties and the municipalities of Tomah, Black River Falls, and Sparta, along with 38 townships.
He is a lifetime member of seven veterans organizations and has served on the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee as ranking minority member for seven years and as chairperson from 1995 until he left office. It should also be noted that Fort McCoy, Wisconsin's primary army base, lies within his district.
Over the course of his 24 years in the State Assembly, Musser served on at least 19 committees including Veterans and Military Affairs as chairperson from 1995 to 2008, Property Rights and Land Management as vice chairperson, and State and Local Finance as vice chairperson. Musser also served on the Legislative Council Committee on State-Tribal Relations where he was chairperson from 2001 to 2008 (the government of the Ho-Chunk Nation is based in Black River Falls which is in his district and hometown).
Musser served in the State Assembly until 2008 when, citing the divisiveness of state politics, he chose not to run for reelection.
