Whyatt, 36, the daughter of John and Marlene Johnson of Greenwood, is the head nurse of the orthopedic ward at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a U.S. military hospital.
The dedication of Whyatt and other military medical professionals in providing the sick and wounded with treatment, she said, is only limited by their ability to withstand long hours on the job.
"I guess the Nike slogan, 'Just Do It,' is about the most accurate answer I can give," Whyatt said last week in an e-mail from Landstuhl.
In March, Whyatt was featured in a story on "compassion fatigue" that was published in Stars and Stripes.
For Whyatt, a wife and mother of three, the stresses and the strains of handling the influx of wounded patients just goes with the territory.
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Nursing is Wyatt's calling in life. "I entered the profession to help the sick, wounded and injured unconditionally," she said.
Since November 2001, Landstuhl's medical staff has been busy. According to Stars and Stripes, by March 2004, the hospital had treated 12,500 patients - 1,700 of which were combat casualties - in what is known in the soldier business as the "Global War on Terrorism."
"The month of April was the busiest month during the GWOT. Not only did we experience a significant influx of patients, we also saw the level of care required and the degree of trauma increase.
"March was the beginning of a slow build-up of events that culminated in what I have dubbed, 'The Battle of Fallujah.' The week leading up to Easter and the weeks that followed were just another reality check of how 'real' the war was," Whyatt said.
She said her 20-bed unit at Landstuhl averaged about 80 patients per month at the height of the fighting in Iraq. Since then, the number of patients has dropped some.
Whyatt said the most therapeutic aspect of her job is listening to the wounded tell their stories about daily life in a combat zone.
"Their stories range from the vague to the most detailed moment-by-moment recounting of all that they have endured. We have shared lots of tears as we sit and listen to their near death experiences or are told, 'I should have died,'" Whyatt said.
The dedication of the soldiers and their enthusiastic desire to return to active duty, to rejoin their comrades in arms, is especially encouraging, she said.
"To hear our service members tell of their experiences and then to be asked, 'When can I go back?' only speaks to the resilience of the American war fighter," she said.
Soldiers who Whyatt treats suffer from a variety of ailments, such as gunshot, shrapnel and blunt trauma wounds. She said her ward also handles traumatic amputations and more traditional orthopedic injuries such as fractures and broken bones.
The staff at Landstuhl, which also treats coalition soldiers from other countries, has grown since the beginning of the year.
"We have a staff of 34 that consists of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and medical technicians." The facility has been augmented by Army Reservists and active duty Air Force personnel, she said.
Whyatt said her unit also provides care for patients who are receiving low and high doses of radioisotopes.
A 1985 graduate of Greenwood High School, Whyatt received her bachelor's degree in nursing from Prairie View A&M University in 1990. She received a master's degree in human relations in 2004.
Whyatt's father, John Johnson, project director for mass transit programs at Mississippi Valley State University and former president of the Greenwood School District board, is proud of his daughter's accomplishments.
"We're just pleased that she has done as well as she has. We've been supportive of her efforts. Family support is good, and I guess it pays off," he said.
"Kendra enjoys her job. It is a challenge for her and to her. Helping people to get well and back to their posts of duty is something she enjoys," Johnson said.
Whyatt credits her mother for leading her into nursing and the U.S. Army for making it a reality.
"At the completion of my sophomore year of college I attended a military camp. While there, I won an academic scholarship from the U.S. Army. The terms were simple: 'If you accept, we pay for the remaining two years of school.' In return, I would give four years active duty or eight years in the Reserves," she said.
Marlene Johnson, a counselor at Amanda Elzy High School, said both of her children are serving their country. U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class John Carey Johnson is stationed at Newport News, Va.
Mrs. Johnson she is proud of her daughter's accomplishments. "I don't have any qualms or fears. I don't always get a chance to see her as often as I would like, but we manage."
Whyatt still calls her parents once a week and they e-mail each other regularly, Mrs. Johnson said.
Whyatt is married to Denzil Whyatt. The couple has three children, Sharmil, 10, Jazneque, 6, and Denare, 5, and all of them live in Landstuhl.
Whyatt said serving in Germany is a little difficult.
"The language is a little 'hard,' but manageable. Most Germans are pleased when you give the language a try, no matter how bad you made it sound. In all honesty, it is harder to get a German to speak German to you because, just like us, they want to practice their English like we practice our German," she said.
A longtime member of East Percy Street Christian Church in Greenwood, where she was a member of the choir, Whyatt now attends the Vogelweh Gospel Service in Landstuhl.
Whyatt said she has not really thought about life after the Army.
"To be quite honest, there is no other place in the world I would rather be practicing nursing that at Landstuhl, providing world-class medical care to America's sons and daughters - the war fighters," she said.
