Charles M. Pickett

Charles Pickett joined the Army Corps of Engineers at 39, serving seven years including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, earning the Combat Action Badge and three Army Commendation Medals. Back home in New Haven, Connecticut, he founded VFW Post 12150 in 2015 and American Legion Post 210 in 2018 — the first such posts for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in the city — while working full-time as an award-winning English teacher at the Sound School. He became the first Iraq/Afghanistan war veteran to command the VFW Department of Connecticut and served as New Haven's first Municipal Veterans Representative. In January 2026, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont inducted him into the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame.