Charles enlisted into the U.S.Army Air Corps in January of
1942. This was partly because Sheppard Air Base was in Wichita Falls, Texas,
and it was close to home. He was 22 years old.
His first stop after training was England. Later he participated
in Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. He was part of the 12th
AAF, 49th Fighter Squadron. Charles was in tech supply, his job was
to order parts for airplanes including the P-38 Lightning, known to the Germans
as the “Forked Tail Devil,” since it was a twin engine, and twin boomed
aircraft.
Charles reports that as he was a musician, sometimes he and
other talented airman would play in the evening as part of recreation for the
others on base. Once after taking the airfield from the Luftwaffe at Oran Algeria,
the base was bombed by German bombers. He was sleeping on the concrete floor of
a hanger. He was told later of the bombing, apparently Charles slept right
through the bombs dropping! Lucky for him, the hanger was spared getting hit
that night.
Charles participated in the invasion of Sicily and later Italy.
While in Italy, Charles was assigned to the air base at Triolo Italy. This is
where he remained until the end of the war with Germany.
He was discharged in July, 1945.
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