Retired U.S. Navy diver Charles ‘Chuck’ Waddell aims to help veterans with PTSD in Southern Utah

Written by Jeff Richards
June 27, 2023
Chuck Waddell, president of Southern Utah Veterans Association, presents a new flag to a Civil Air Patrol cadet at Cedar City Veterans Park, Cedar City, Utah, June 14, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — Retired U.S. Navy diver Charles A. “Chuck” Waddell says his career in the service, which was cut short by injury, is only part of the legacy he hopes to leave behind.

Charles Waddell (center) on the day he was promoted to Chief Petty Officer, Port Hueneme, Calif., Nov. 19, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Chuck Waddell, St. George News / Cedar City News

The 80-year-old Waddell recently spoke with Cedar City News at his home just west of Cedar City.

Waddell said one of his proudest moments came in November 2021 when he was appointed Honorary Chief Petty Officer nearly five decades after being discharged from the Navy in 1972.

“After being out of the service for 50 years, I was brought back into the Navy,” Waddell said. “I spent $1,000 on dress uniforms and I had to go through a week’s initiation.”

Capping off what Waddell called “a wonderful week,” he stood alongside a couple of dozen fellow sailors as they honored him and promoted him to honorary E-7 status.

“I think it was the proudest moment of my life, to be in the service for 50 years and get promoted to chief petty officer,” he said. “I’ll never forget it.”

Waddell’s military service began in 1960 when he enlisted in the Navy to become a Seabee. Seabees are Construction Battalion members that comprise the Naval Construction Force (NCF). Waddell then went to Second Class Dive School in 1966 before serving in Vietnam.

Although the Seabees utilized divers from their inception, none had been permanently assigned diving as their primary duty. Before that time, there were no Underwater Construction Teams to speak of, and qualified divers were only used on an “as-needed” basis.

Chuck Waddell shows off a few of the many projects in his woodworking shop, Cedar City, Utah, June 1, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Waddell, who is recognized by the Seabee Diving Force as the first Underwater Construction Technician, started the Naval Construction Engineering Laboratory’s Dive Locker in 1968, working alongside other divers, scientists and even astronauts in support of SEALAB and SEACON.

According to his commendation letter, Waddell was instrumental in developing and laying the groundwork for several of the Navy’s key diving equipment and techniques, including Kirby Morgan dive helmets and emergency gas supply apparatus, underwater drill rigs and an underwater construction assist vehicle, a submersible capable of carrying carried six divers, project materials and tools. He also helped adapt numerous hydraulic and pneumatic tools for underwater use, many of which are still used today.

Future Navy assignments took Waddell and his dive teams to underwater construction and demolition projects in locations such as Rhode Island, the Azores and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“He transferred to San Diego to work on classified projects to support undersea surveillance until his back was broken during a test dive of an experimental apparatus,” Waddell’s commendation letter states, adding that he was then forced to quit diving and was subsequently discharged from the Navy. 

“His 12 years in our Navy affected the lives of hundreds of divers and their families,” the document reads.

Waddell later chronicled his Navy exploits in an autobiographical book titled “Farm Boy Can’t Swim,” published in April 2021. It’s available in print or as a Kindle e-book via Amazon.com.

Chuck Waddell points to a photo from his early days in the U.S. Navy, Cedar City, Utah, June 1, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The ever-busy Waddell currently serves as the president of Southern Utah Veterans Association, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose stated mission is “Serving Veterans, Restoring Lives, Building Community.”

Waddell said he and other members of the organization are hoping to build a veterans center in Cedar City where veterans and others can recover from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other issues that hinder their ability to lead productive lives.

Such a facility, Waddell says, would offer various art classes that would allow veterans and others to work on a variety of projects, including metalwork, painting, woodworking, sewing, sculpting and ceramics.

Waddell said the planned center will serve veterans, first responders and senior citizens in Iron, Beaver and Washington counties to help provide services and support in areas where adequate veterans services are often lacking.

“I’m going to leave a legacy to help keep people from committing suicide and help people that have PTSD,” Waddell said. “I’m a Vietnam veteran. We have been spit on, disgraced and forgotten … we still are the same way as we were when we came over from Vietnam.”

Still in progress, Jacob Dean’s full-size metal sculpture depicts a soldier holding his heart and brain in his hands, symbolizing the effects of PTSD, Cedar City, Utah, June 26, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Jacob Dean, St. George News / Cedar City News

“(People) are still slapping us across the face and spitting on us today, but I’m not going to allow that to happen,” Waddell said. “I want every veteran from Vietnam, or Desert Storm, or no matter where … if you’re a veteran, you’re welcome in our facility. Also, you do not have to be a veteran to belong to our association.”

On Waddell’s bookshelf at his home rests a small model of a metal sculpture conceived by local artist Jacob Dean that depicts a soldier holding his heart in one hand and his brain in the other, symbolizing the effects of PTSD. An undulating wave behind the man is made up of brass bullet casings that serve as a reminder of those who have taken their own lives.

The sculpture, Waddell said, is being rendered life-size and in much greater detail by Dean. That work is planned to be the centerpiece installation at Southern Utah Veterans Association’s future veterans facility in Cedar City.

Dean, who has already put an estimated 500 hours into the project, sent Cedar City News a few photos showing the sculpture’s current status, with the 6-foot-tall figure being approximately three-fourths finished.

Dean says he plans to use 80,000 shell casings for the wave to represent the approximate number of veteran suicides in the United States over the past century since World War I.

For more information about Southern Utah Veterans Association, visit the organization’s website or call Waddell at 907-252-1365.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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