Info Sheet Bud Wayne Wyatt
Deceased 26 December 2010 - comments from Joe Hoover
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Bud Wayne Wyatt, 60, of Fairdealing, Missouri, died Sunday, December 26, 2010, at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
Mr. Wyatt, son of O’Kelly and Rita (Perkins) Wyatt, was born March 31, 1950, at Poplar Bluff, Missouri. He was self-employed as a mechanic. Mr. Wyatt enjoyed hunting, fishing and taking care of his family.
He served in the U.S. Army in 1970, fought in Viet Nam and earned many decorations, medals and badges before his honorable discharge. Mr. Wyatt was a member of the American Legion.
On March 18, 1970, he was married to Sally Gibson in Union, Missouri, and she survives. Also surviving are three daughters; Nina White of Genoa, New York, Niki Howerton of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Nicole Young of Senatobia, Mississippi; his mother, Rita Wyatt, of Fairdealing, Missouri; four siblings; Judy Foulks of Doniphan, Missouri, Jason Wyatt of Bloomfield, Missouri, and Patrick Wyatt and Mary Wyatt, both of Fairdealing, Missouri; and ten grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his father, O’Kelly Wyatt, and one son, Bud Wayne Wyatt II. He was buried in Pilgrim’s Rest Cemetery.
Joe Hoover: Bud and I were talking and I was asking him about being in the Rangers (LRRP's), what was it like, if anything happened that was “interesting”? He laughed and said his first time going on an ambush, they made contact with the VC along a trail. The VC retreated back the trail from the ambush, Bud jumped up and started chasing them down the trail. He could hear the other Rangers yelling and thought they were following him. But when he went around a bend in the trail, it got real quiet and Bud realized he was alone. He said he turned around and headed back up the trail making sure that he was shouting to the rest of the team that he was coming back. Said it made him very aware of how one little mistake could be disastrous.
Smitty (my gunner Terry Smith) told when they were in the Rangers together and in the field, that Bud became their watch dog at night. Bud could be sound asleep, but when someone he didn’t know or wasn’t familiar with came near, he would wake up or become restless in his sleep. And sure enough, they would end up in contact with the enemy. So, it became whoever was on guard, one of the things they would do was keep an eye on Bud while he slept. I’m not sure Bud even knew about that. I do know that at times Smitty and I would be in their room, talking, listening to Smitty’s stereo and maybe drinking a little, that when anyone who did not live in our hooch came in, Bud would wake up.