War Vet Reflects on 14 Years in United States Army

For Walter Garrett, Veterans Day is just another day.

The 14-year United States Army veteran will tell you that although his military days are well in his past, he soldiers on each day amid haunted war dreams and worldwide memories from decades ago.

"I technically grew up in the military. That's where I learned to be a man," said Garrett, 67. "I have absolutely nothing bad to say about serving my country. I was a soldier – I had to be and I was a damn good one."

Garrett, who lives in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Newark's South Ward with and their 4-year-old twins, speaks fondly of his days in the military, recalling tours in Vietnam and Africa (to name a few) with vibrant detail and a slight wistfulness. 

His long career in the Army includes working alongside pro-golfer Tiger Woods' father Lt. Col. Earl Woods at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina, securing a top job in Washington and working under three United States presidents, and, of course, enduring war wounds (Garrett has been shot twice in the legs and wounded three times by shrapnel grenades while in combat).

The early days

Following in his older brother George Lincoln Wilson's footsteps, the Philadelphia-born Garrett enrolled in the army in 1963 at age 18. Two years later, he was deployed to war-torn Vietnam where he learned that fighting in a conflict in no way resembled the John Wayne movies he had seen.

"I was a solider, on duty in honor of our country," said Garrett, the youngest of six children. "I had no other opinion other than the fact that I was there to serve the country.

"You were afraid, but if you were trained well, you performed well," he added.

A shot to Garrett's left leg, which shattered his femur and resulted in a steel rod implant to repair the bone, ended his first tour overseas. But when his beloved brother Wilson was killed by enemies in Vietnam in November 1967, Garrett, unfazed by recent injury, returned to the country one month later seeking blood.

"I wanted to do the revenge thing. I went over there and learned that there was a lot of Vietnamese that wanted revenge, too," said Garrett. "But you never think of it like that. They had every right to shoot my brother and had every right to shoot me because I was in their country."

Aside from vengeance, Garrett said the military taught him other sobering life lessons, like how to say goodbye to loved ones upon deployment and the blunt reality of war.

He recalled a time when he caught a young man trying to steal his watch in Vietnam. Garrett grabbed the man by his collar and threatened his life.

"He said to me, 'What are you gonna do, G.I.? You gonna kill me now?'" said Garrett, who explained to the man he was selflessly risking his life each day for the sheer purpose of freeing Vietnam.

"He said, 'Freedom? I don't know freedom. Before you came I was a thief. You're here now, I'm a thief. When you go – if you don't kill me – I'm still a thief. Nothing about my life has changed except the war,'" Garrett remembered.

It was then the young soldier realized the dismal coexistence of war and life overseas; the Vietnamese went on with their every day in spite of constant gunfire and senseless violence.

"They lived with war," he said.

Post-war life

Sgt. 1st Class Garrett returned to the states highly decorated, having earned Bronze and Silver Star medals and an Army Accommodation Medal for heroism. His extensive military resume, including training in covert operations, earned him a top White House position in 1973 as chief of military police investigations for the Military District of Washington.

As chief, Garrett said he was the "J. Edgar Hoover of the military," supervising investigations of service members at several military bases in Washington. He also worked in tandem with the Secret Service to protect Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

"Out of all the presidents I worked under, Gerald Ford was one of the nicest guys that ever held that office," said Garrett, who admittedly was not so fond of Nixon.

The latter years of Garrett's military career included touring Africa on a special assignment, earning degrees in criminal justice and security administration from George Mason University, and saving a man's life in Angola.

"(Barry) was on the one side, and I was on the other," said Garrett of his enemy, a Guyanese mercenary. "I was on the operation one night and (Barry's) troop came through. We engaged them and we eliminated everyone – so we thought."

The next morning, Garrett stumbled upon Barry, alive and begging for his life. He sent the mercenary on his way and it was the last time he ever saw him – until the two were reunited coincidentally in 1990 at Garrett's store, New American Hardware Salvage, on S. 18th Street.

"There's being a soldier, and then there's being a soldier," said Blake-Garrett, of her husband's actions in Africa. "I just think that adds to his character as a human being."

The next chapter

After relishing a "high-adrenaline" lifestyle in his younger years, Garrett said he now enjoys peace and quiet at his spacious Newark home. Some nights, he said, are punctuated with nightmares of war, a symptom of his post-tramautic stress disorder. But days are spent leisurely, playing solitaire or mahjongg on the computer and taking care of his twins, who turn five in February. Garrett's hardware store remains in the family under the care of his son Donald, 37, who bought the shop from his father in 2003.

"They are the reasons why I enjoy what's left of my life," said Garrett of his children and wife of 20 years. "They're definitely a blessing. That's what's given me the longevity. But I just sit and wait for my time and when it comes, I'll be ready."

Blake-Garrett, 40, who first met her husband at his hardware shop, said she sometimes comes home to find Garrett preaching life lessons to neighborhood kids.

"This one young guy was living across the street and he had four kids," said Blake-Garrett, and supervisor of nonpublic schools in Jersey City. "It just turned into almost a father-son relationship. He now lives in Rochester, NY and he's still calling him for advice. (My husband) is still a leader in the community – just a quiet one."

Garrett will spend his Veterans Day no differently than any other day – at home with his wife and children – by virtue of another life lesson stemming from his Army days.

"I thank the military for taking away the confusions of life. They changed the holidays … into another day," said Garrett. "Because each day you live, no matter what day or holiday it is, it's just another day."