For 16 years, the Wyant family had children drafted in the Army. these five brothers lived history, through the Cold War, Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Today they still joke to one another about their time in service, the older brothers teasing the youngest, who served in Vietnam, about how he had it simple. They do not consider themselves heroes, simply Americans doing what they were called up to do when the country demanded it.
The first son draftedCharlie Wyant is the eldest brother and the first to be drafted into the Army. He was a first-year teacher at Wadesboro High School in 1952 during the Korean War when he got his enlistment papers. Because he was a teacher, the military agreed to defer him until the end of the school year, Charlie said.
“I’m sure our momma and dad didn’t want to see me go,” he said. “I remember getting the plane to Charlotte. I’m sure it didn’t get any simpler for any of us.”
Charlie was sent to Ft. Jackson, SC, where he was given 12 weeks of Morse Code training.
“you had to have 13 words a minute, and five characters make a word,” Charlie, now 81, said. “when you got overseas, you didn’t linger on 13, you had to get that speed up. At one point I was up to 18 a minute.”
Although Charlie was assigned to be a radio operator, he said it was a field some people didn’t have the stamina for.
“I saw some people flake out, they couldn’t take it,” he said. “if the person on the other end was a poor sender, you couldn’t tell them to slow down.”
After his training at Ft. Jackson, Charlie was assigned to the 14th Armored Calvary as a radio operator and shipped to Fulda, Germany — something for which he is grateful for.
“I was one of only three in my class that did not go to Korea,” he said.
That doesn’t mean he wasn’t busy, though. Charlie was in charge of a 10-meter strip of land, and if anything went in that area, his team was responsible for messages about it.
“I saw anything from soldiers to Russians to dogs,” he said. “we got a code, depending on what it was.”
Charlie’s assignment was intense for eight hours. He was then off for 24 hours, before he had to report for duty again. Because of his demanding job and the hours involved, Charlie said it got him out of other responsibilities at base camp, like guard duty and KP (kitchen police/patrol). Still, it was no picnic, he said.“your sleeping schedule was terrible,” he said. “Try sleeping in the barracks in the middle of the day — you can’t.”Charlie’s two years were nearly completed in mid-1954 and he was looking forward to going home. his commander had one final request, but.
“my company commander wanted me to stay. He knew I was a certified teacher, and said he would bump me up a notch on the rank and get me a job teaching,” he said.
Charlie, but, missed his sisters, parents and brothers at home, as well as Catawba County.
“I said no disrespect, but I wouldn’t stay if you traded jobs with me,” Charlie said.He was sent home in October 1954.
The next to goLike Charlie, Joe was sent to Germany when he was drafted in December 1956. the Korean War may have been over, but the Cold War was heating up in Europe.
When he was sent to Ft. Jackson for basic training, Joe was selected to be a medic and given eight weeks of training. He was then shipped to Germany, which was his first wakeup call.
“getting seasick on the boat over to Germany was enough to make me quit smoking Camels,” he said.
When Joe arrived in Germany, he was stationed in Ulm, where he remained until December 1958. Assigned to the 456 Medical Battalion, 575 Ambulance Company, he spent much of his time at a hospital in Heidelberg.
Joe had to ride with the ambulance on several calls, one of the most vivid being trying to help a man running to get on a truck.
“a man had a deuce-and-a-half truck (cargo truck) that squished him,” Joe, now 78, said. “He was running behind the truck to get in there to where the equipment was.”
Joe worked 24 hours a day, and then was off for 24 hours. Like Charlie, he learned his job had a few perks.
“if we got cold, we could turn the heat on in the ambulance,” Joe said. “We’d tell them we needed to pick up supplies at the hospital, and get some food while we were there.”
Although he may have had it better than some of the others who were drafted, Joe said he can remember a historical moment that took place, and how it affected him just like everyone else.
“I was in Germany when Sputnik went up,” he said.
The satellite Sputnik was launched on Oct. 4, 1957. it was the first satellite to orbit earth, and was launched by the Soviet Union, beating the United States in one of the first steps of the space race.
“it shook people up, them being the first,” Joe said.
Protecting AmericaNot all of the brothers were sent overseas. when Don received his draft notice, he was sent to Killeen Base in Texas in December 1958.
During basic training, Don was told he was going to be a security guard in new Mexico or Texas. instead, the Army placed him with the military police at Killeen Base, which was an atomic weapons storage facility.
Don was there for a month before he sent for his wife. she ended up going to school in Texas. They lived off post, getting $1 a day more for rations than if they lived on the base.
Don said Killeen Base was secretive.
“where I was at, people didn’t know what was over there. it was a top secret place,” he said. “you had to have a card to get there. There was fence, fence, fence and 24 concrete steps.”
And though the base was rumored to have atomic bombs, Don said he didn’t see any. He did see canisters on planes, but.
What he said he had to be most wary of were rattlesnakes.“They start going. when you stop, they stop,” Don said.
When conducting patrols at night, Don said he frequently had to report to fake calls.
“People would walk around and kick the door to set the alarm off,” he said. “You’d have to go check it out. after you go and confirm it was nothing, someone else would go kick another door and set off another alarm.”
Not every search was so fruitless. Don, now 76, frequently had to verify people were who they said they were.
“I had to check badges with IDs, and they had to have passwords to make sure they were the right person,” Don said.
When his two years were up in December 1960, Don and his wife returned to Catawba County and he got a job at Southern Desk. He’s not sure he would make the same go today.
“if I had to do it over, I’d stay in Texas and be a state ranger. They tried to get us to do that,” he said. “both of us wish we had stayed, but it was hot and dry, and there were rattlesnakes. we went back here to be near family.”
Experiencing life in the airJohn was the fourth son to get his draft notice, in September 1960. John was sent to Fort Rucker, Ala., and was in for many firsts in his life.
“I had never flown on a plane until I’d finished school at Fort Rucker,” John said. “that was a thrill.”
After his training, John followed in his brothers’ footsteps and was sent to Germany as a member of the 8th Aviation. Based in Baumholder as a mechanic, it was his job to fix the wings of small airplanes. He also got to ride in the planes — either a perk or a hazard of the job.
“when you worked on one, you got to ride in it,” John said. “They wanted to make sure the plane was fixed.”
There were other problems that sometimes had to be dealt with, as well. although a plane may work properly, this was still the Cold War. An airfield wouldn’t necessarily allow a plane to land just because it was in distress.
“we were coming from Copenhagen and the pilot got lost,” John said. “the tanks held 42 gallons and it ran out of gas. we had to pay 6 (Deutsche) Marks to land at the German airfield. that was when the Wall at Berlin was still there.”
John said his work was frequently exhausting. He would often work on the planes until 11:30 p.m. or midnight, then have to be back at work at 4:30 a.m.Still, John, now 73, has an advantage over his brothers.
“I got to see Germany from the air,” John said.
The final drafteeWhen Arney was drafted in August 1966, the Vietnam War had been going for several years. He said he didn’t need a lot of advice from his brothers about the military before leaving, but had two key pieces of information.
“Don’t be first and don’t be last. And don’t volunteer,” he said.
Arney was placed in the 56th Transportation Company in Vietnam, in the company armory. He was in charge of the company’s weapons, taking care of the machine guns and rifles, he said.
“I was over there during the Tet Offensive, stationed near Saigon,” Arney, now 64, said.
About 18 miles north of the Tan Son Nhut Air Base, he issued soldiers rocket and grenade launchers from the tractor trailer he was in charge of that housed all the weapons. although the tractor trailer was locked with a key Arney had, it was kept in the middle of the company, so no one could sneak in.
Although Vietnam was a hotbed of activity, Arney chose to stay 30 days longer than the two years he was drafted.
“I wanted to get out of the Army,” he said. “I would have to spend four-and-a-half or five months in the States in a different location. if I extended my tour of duty by 30 days, I got out as soon as I got home.”
Looking backThe Wyant brothers were five of 13 children growing up, raised in Banoak on a cotton farm, John said.
They were taught not to talk back to their father, something Joe considers natural training for the military.
After each son was drafted, their mother wanted news that her child was OK.“Mom expected a letter every week, and she wrote every week,” John said.
It wasn’t just their mother that wrote to them. Charlie said their sisters frequently wrote, as well. Don’s wife also wrote to him, until she came to Texas.
When John finished his military service, he said he was glad he had served his country.
“I wouldn’t trade my experience, but you couldn’t pay me a dime to do it again,” he said.
The siblings do revisit their time in the military occasionally, especially since they have four brothers-in-law who served their country and one who was in the National Guard.
And two summers ago, Charlie visited where he was stationed in Germany.“I saw that 10 meter strip,” he said. “They built a monument for the 14th Calvary. I was proud to see that they had done that.”
Wyant family’s military service:Cpl. Charlie Wyant, 8114th Armored Calvary, radio operator in Fulda, Germany, October 1952-October 1954Spec. 4 Joe Wyant, 78456 Medical Battalion, 575 Ambulance Company, medical company in Ulm, Germany, December 1956-December 1958PFC Don Wyant, 76Military Police in Killeen Base, December 1958-December 1960Spec. 4 John Wyant, 738th Aviation, mechanic in Baumholder, Germany, September 1960-August 1962Spec. 4 Arney Wyant, 6456th Transportation Company in Vietnam, company armory, August 1966-May 1968
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