Sharing Our Stories

Jeral O. Tyler
Chief clerk - CYO,
Atlanta, GA

I am a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Army. During that time I was assigned to various locations within the United States as well as a tour in Germany, Turkey and two tours in Vietnam . It was a life full of chaos, adventure, and loneliness and yet I wouldn't trade it for anything. How else could I have seen so much of the world and met such a wide variety of people and friends.

One of my fondest memories was when I was in Turkey. One day I was out driving along the countryside and came upon this beautiful pasture with grass so green I was compelled to stop. I climbed through a fence and began walking. I came upon a pipe jutting from the side of a hill with water flowing from it. Hanging from the pipe was a tin cup. I was deciding whether to take a drink when this man, who I’m sure was in his eighties, came around the hill. We quickly realized we couldn't communicate due to the language barrier, but through gestures he invited me to take a drink. To my surprise it was not only delicious but it was ice cold. I later learned it was coming from an undergound spring. Again through gestures he invited me around the hill and to his house where his wife brought out tea and cookies and rapidly disappeared. That old man and I spent hours sitting in that wonderfully green pasture showing each other pictures of our families and talking as if we understood each other. When I left he gave me a picture of a young man in a military uniform. I assume it was his son and I left him a picture of my daughter who was ten at the time. These are memories I will always treasure. I now have four daughters and a son. One daughter spent six years in the Navy and my son spent six years in the Army.

My years in the military were the most rewarding and enlightening years of my life.