Charles Bruce was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1926. He had two brothers and a sister. He was the oldest. He was raised by his parents. His father worked in the oil field. His father was away from home some. His mother cooked for the school after Bruce was out of school. His father would work in the oil field and then have to find other work [Annotator's Note: he is referring to the Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. When Bruce finished school he worked with his father in the oil field. Then he worked putting up rice. They rode the school bus to school. It was about five miles. They lived in a four-room house. They had a fireplace to eat by. It was a better time to grow up. They did not have much, but they were happy. His father bought his mother a new washing machine. His father bought a butane gas tank and they had gas in the house. They had come home from church when they heard the news about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. They heard about it again at school. Bruce was in the 10th grade. After that, they were trying to get people to go to work. There were jobs everywhere. Bruce graduated high school in 1943. He went to work after graduation driving a truck.

Charles Bruce was 17 years old when he drove a truck for work. He got a ticket for speeding. He had to pay 20 dollars. He went out to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California] after he joined the Navy. He had 12 weeks of boot camp. After boot camp, he was shipped to Coronado Island [Annotator's Note: Coronado Island, California]. They went there on landing crafts. They did 12 weeks of KP [Annotator's Note: kitchen patrol or kitchen police] while they were there. They were given liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. Bruce joined the Navy in June 1944. He wanted a place to sleep and a hot meal. During maneuvers in Louisiana the men had to live in holes in the ground. The maneuvers happened near Bruce's house. They did not have barracks to live in. Bruce was a hand on the boat [Annotator's Note: he is referring to the Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat] for 12 weeks. The boats were 36 feet long with a ramp in the front. They practiced landing on the beach. They practiced landing at night and in the daytime. Sometimes the waves were high and would tip the boat pretty far. It was rigorous training. They took a train from San Diego to Oregon to get on a ship. They went to San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] and then on to the Hawaiian islands. When they went to San Diego they rode in cattle cars on the train. Bruce's white collar turned black because of the train smoke.

Charles Bruce was on the USS Lander (APA-178). Their job was to haul men and equipment wherever they needed to go. They had bunks on the ship for all the men. They were hung on chains. They had places for the soldiers to sleep. They had cargo holds. They were equipped to haul big loads. They had two boats on their that could haul a tank. When they were in Japan they hauled jeeps to shore. Bruce was in the deck crew. They painted stuff and kept it up. They were in charge of the ropes up on the deck. They had to be watchmen [Annotator's Note: they were watching for enemy ships or aircraft] for four hours a day. Bruce had to watch up on the bridge. He wore the earphones. He had binoculars to see 12 miles out. Bruce got to steer the ship a couple of times. They had sandwiches in the mess hall for the men to eat late at night. They also had a gun watch. The men got to stay by the gun for four hours. Bruce was on the USS Lander (APA-178) the whole time he was in the war.

Charles Bruce did not come across any enemy planes or ships out in the open waters [Annotator's Note: while serving aboard USS Lander (APA-178)]. When they were in Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] they had kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese suicide bombers] coming at them. They did not get hit by any. They were a solo ship, not in a convoy. They were close to Okinawa when the Germans surrendered. Everyone was excited when they [Annotator's Note: the Germans] surrendered. They were more excited when the Japanese surrendered. They went to Norfolk, Virginia when the USS Lander was decommissioned. Then they went to New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. Bruce volunteered to go to Tennesee to pick up trucks to bring back. Bruce remembers he got into some trouble when they went through the Panama Canal [Annotator's Note: Manmade canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in between North and South America]. They got into a big fight with the shore patrol in a bar they were at. Bruce was not afraid of anything then. He never thought about dying. He thought he would make it back home. The worst he got was sunburnt in San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California]. While they were stationed in the Hawaiian islands he tried surfing and he got sunburnt on the back of his legs. His legs and back got blisters on them.

There were no jobs when Charles Bruce got out of the service. He got married right away. He met a high school girl and married her. He got out on 23 May [Annotator's Note: 23 May 1946] and they got married on 11 October. They did not have children for about four or five years. He eventually found a good job. He worked on the I-10 bridge construction for two years. He worked on the lake [Annotator's Note: Lake Charles, Louisiana]. He retired from the Port of Lake Charles in 1985. He does not think the war changed him a lot. He worked 13 to 15 hours a day. He worked there for 29 years. The whole war was memorable. He did what he could, but he was just a kid. He was fortunate to make it through the war. He does not think people today know what Wold War 2 was. When he was at Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] he got to go onto the island and see the front lines. A general got killed while they were there. Another time they passed a ship in the Pacific Ocean that had their mail. Bruce went over to the other ship to pick up the mail. The waves were dangerous. Bruce had twin boys. He was able to keep food on the table. He built a couple of houses for them to live in. He tried to keep an automobile. It was hard back then. He has had a good life. His wife passed away in 2012.