WRAY, Colo. -- A man who said he took the much-debated swine flu vaccine in Colorado more than 30 years ago said he's not about to get one this time.

"No. From everything I've seen on TV, this doesn't seem much worse that regular flu. I guess I'm not going to worry about it," said Mitch Brueggeman.

Now in Ogallala, Neb., Brueggeman said he was helping dig sugar beats in Wray in October of 1976.

He said he knew the town was offering a swine flu vaccine.

"I told everybody I wasn't going to get that stupid shot. I turned around and there were no trucks to load. I decided then I better get it," Brueggeman said.

All he remembers is the pain from the air-injection.

"It felt like they shoved an 8-inch knife right in my arm," said Brueggeman, who did not get sick and can't recall what was in that vaccine.

The federal government was criticized for over-reacting by using the swine flu vaccine in the 1970s.

The Centers For Disease Control explained that 1976 was the year for a nationwide influenza campaign but the swine flu vaccine was linked to the development of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder, and was halted early.