WORLD WAR II
Charles served as a ball turret gunner, with the rank of Sergeant, in the US Army Air Corps, whose insignia is shown below together with the medals awarded to him including the Air Medal, Purple Heart, and POW Medal.
Charles tells the story of his war experience in this video, taken in 2012 when he was invited to speak at The American Legion chapter in Pacific Palisades, California, where he lived.
A dramatic account of the events on August 16, 1944, when Charles' plane was shot down over Germany, can be found in a chapter of this book. Click on this link, and scroll down about half way to the section headed "Third Element No. 012."
At a special ceremony in 2013, Charles received the POW Medal, which had not existed when he was in the military. Click on the photo to see an account of that ceremony.