Lady’s Island man served in three wars. How his community helped in his time of need
A short drive off Sea Island Parkway on Lady’s Island — the “mayor” of Lost Island Road is missing.
His presence, however, is still felt in the community he helped create.
Talking with the residents that live on Lost Island Road, one gets a good understanding of what 94-year-old Charles Waller means to this small sea island community.
“He’s a great man,” one neighbor said.
To really get to know “Charlie” — as he’s known to so many of his friends — one just has to sit and listen. He’s lived a full life and he’s more than happy to share it with his neighbors.
Veterans Day is a time to remember those who spent — or gave — their lives defending their country. Their stories serve as reminders of what’s important in life and not to take anything for granted.
Chief Warrant Officer CWO-3 Charles Waller, a career military man, served in three wars — World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He’s lived and traveled all around the world, survived a bombing in Japan, served on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Korea and even had a somewhat embarrassing run-in with General Douglas MacArthur during WWII. However, what he loves talking about most are his family — his wife and three sons — and the relationships he’s made over the years.
In September, Shirley, Waller’s wife of 71 years and the love of his life, passed away. For those who have lost a spouse, spending time alone can be especially difficult. Grief and pain lace even the sweetest memories. During this time of mourning, Waller is staying with his son in Louisiana to recuperate. In January, though, he plans to return to his home on Lady’s Island. The community he and his wife helped build. The place where he’s known as “mayor.”
A Well-Traveled Vet
Waller first met Shirley in 1942 near Boston. He was only 16 at the time and remembers traveling 25 miles by bus to go see her whenever her parents allowed. They never officially dated until years later. The next year, Waller enlisted in the Marine Corps and shipped off to basic training on Parris Island.
During WWII, Waller went to aviation mechanic school and was stationed at air fields all over from the Solomon Islands to the Philippines. During a Japanese air raid in the Philippines, Waller was knocked unconscious by a bomb that landed just next to him. He doesn’t remember much of what happened but ended up staying three or four weeks in the hospital after doctors discovered he had also contracted malaria.
After recovering, Waller and his outfit set up a headquarters near a village in the Philippines. Douglas MacArthur, the famous five-star general and field marshal of the Philippine Army, was going to be there. One day, Waller was on patrol duty and was told to stop every vehicle that passed through. That morning, a civilian vehicle with four people inside drove up to the entrance. Waller stopped the vehicle and asked for identification.
“Do you know who this is,” the driver said, pointing to an officer in the car dressed in all khaki.
“No, I don’t. Sir, I asked for your identification,” Waller responded, nervously.
The man in all khaki didn’t budge and casually reached into his pocket, took out a pipe and placed it into his mouth. It finally dawned on Waller that he was demanding identification from MacArthur.
“Oh, boy,” Waller thought. “They’re going to hang me for this.”
After the incident, Waller said the Marine colonel that was in the car with MacArthur tried to have him disciplined. Instead, MacArthur got on the phone with Waller’s commanding officer and said he wouldn’t be disciplined and that he did a “beautiful job.”
In 1945, Japan surrendered and the war was over. Waller was discharged from the Marines as a corporal in 1946. He hadn’t been home since he left for boot camp in 1943 and the only thing he could think of was visiting Shirley.
“The first thing I wanted to do was go and see that girl I had only met a couple of times,” Waller said.
They dated for awhile and, in 1948, while he was in the Marine Corps Reserves in Boston, they were married.
In 1952, Waller was sent to Korea and was stationed on an aircraft carrier off the coast. He spent some time in Japan before serving as an instructor at a jet engine school in Memphis in 1960.
In 1964, Waller was stationed in Beaufort, and his wife and sons moved with him. In 1965, Waller was sent to Vietnam and was stationed at DaNang. He was promoted to warrant officer the next year. In 1967, Waller asked to be transferred back to Beaufort so he could be closer to his family. He stayed there until 1971, when he got orders to return to the war and was stationed in Japan.
At that point, he had been all over and just wanted to be with his family. With his oldest sons in college and his youngest son in high school, he called Shirley and asked if she would come visit him. It was one of the first times during his 30-year military career that she got to visit him overseas.
The Mayor
Finally, in 1974, Waller retired from the Marines. Then in his 50s, he decided to go to school and get a degree in building and construction. He started out building garages and helping neighbors repair their homes. He eventually moved over to Lady’s Island and built his home on Lost Island Road.
Over the years, he’s watched as new neighbors moved into the community he helped build. He greeted the young families of Lost Island Road and made them all feel welcome. As one of the oldest people living in the small community, Waller fought the state to get the road paved. He served as the spokesperson for the community while most of the younger families were at work.
When his neighbors describe Lost Island Road, they say “the mayor did it all.”
“We really became a close knit neighborhood,” Waller said. “The people down there, I can just about name all of them. They have been wonderful and they all stuck together. I couldn’t have asked for better neighbors.”
He said he and his wife always tried to be good neighbors and, when the time came when they needed help, his neighbors “came to bat.”
When Shirley got sick with pulmonary fibrosis, the neighbors would drive her on errands and help out whenever they could.
“When my wife got sick, they would bring pies and cupcakes and talk to her and just these little things, and it just made you feel so good to say there are good people here. I mean, good, good people in this world and in this neighborhood,” Waller said.
Waller said when his wife passed away on Sept. 1, it “really tore” him up. It was the response he got from his neighbors and his family that helped him through it. For an old veteran who’s seen a lot in his 94 years, it was “such a beautiful feeling to know you have those people that you can count on,” he said.
“Just try to be neighborly no matter what, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, that doesn’t make any difference. It’s who you are and what you do as neighbors and how you treat other people that matters. Once you realize that, you can do wonders in the world.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
