CONYERS, Ga. — Charles Wyatt remembers the day he enlisted in the U.S. Army: October 26, 1959. He hadn't thought about the decision much. He spent many of his early years in the military in Munich, Germany. While combat was far from Wyatt's mind, the Vietnam War thrust him onto the battlefield.
"I had three tours in Vietnam," Wyatt said. “I flew in helicopters. I wasn’t a pilot. I was a door gunner, mechanic and a crew chief.”
Wyatt worked on UH-D1 helicopters in the jungles of Vietnam, flying combat missions. He earned medals and lost friends by the dozen.
“I had never been shot at personally that I could recall," Wyatt said. "I heard 'zing!' So I told the pilot, I said we just got shot at, he said it happens every day. I was never scared. It was just a psychological thing had taken over my mind and body.”
Once it was time to retire in May 1987, First Sgt. Charles Wyatt wondered about his future.
"A lot of guys don’t talk about it," Wyatt said. "It’s something that bothers them, us. We just keep it silent. “I didn’t start opening up until I went to see a psychiatrist. I had post-traumatic stress like most of the GI’s.”
Wyatt got help, and through the organization AMVETS, he's able to offer help to others struggling to make connections and cope with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“The brotherhood is real good," Wyatt said. “Somebody’s gotta call these guys, talk with them and let them know we’re thinking about them.”
Wyatt will often get his fellow veterans birthday cards to show he cares about them. He will also visit high schools and share his story about a whim turned into a why.
“What would’ve happened to me if I hadn’t joined the military? I could have joined the Black Panthers, or I could have gotten into a gang," Wyatt said. A lot of guys don’t talk about it. It’s something that bothers them, us. We just keep it silent. But I thought the service was the best thing that happened to me. I wasn’t going nowhere.”