Charles enlisted in the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers on
December 3, 1942 at the age of 24.
After engineering school, Charles was sent overseas to the
South Pacific. There his job was to build runways, roads, bridges, mine sweeping
and mine laying. He spent time in the Philippines and the island of Okinawa.
On Okinawa, Charles had the unenviable task of disarming a
Japanese mine inside a burial cave. He went in by himself and figured out how
to disarm it using only his skill and wits since he had no manual or
instructions in disarming the deadly explosive.
Charles also built bridges and roads on Okinawa using only
the materials on hand, which were usually insufficient and thus had to
improvise many times.
After discharge on July 6, 1946 with rank of 2nd
Lieutenant, Charles was awarded the Army Occupation medal, Asiatic-Pacific
Campaign medal with 3 Bronze Stars, the American Theater medal, WWII Victory
medal and the Philippine Liberation medal with 2 Bronze Stars.
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