Charles Chartier was born in Applegate, Michigan in February 1927. He had one brother and one sister. He was the youngest. His sister was 17 years older, and his brother was seven years older than. He did not see his sister very often and he was not very close to his brother. His mother died when he was 12 years old, so his father raised him. His father remarried when he was 15 years old. His father was a truck driver. He was either working or looking for work during the Depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression; a global economic depression that lasted through the 1930s]. Chartier took care of himself most of the time. He liked to go swimming and fishing. They lived right on the Black River. He does not remember what he was doing when Pearl Harbor happened [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], but he read about it in the newspapers. Before he joined the service, he was driving trucks. He was drafted on 31 July 1945. He knew he had a job to do and he was glad to do it. His brother had been in the service for four years at this time.

Charles Chartier was sworn in in Detroit [Annotator’s Note: Detroit, Michigan]. He went to basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He knew there was still a lot of work to do. Airborne artillery paid five dollars more than regular artillery, so he volunteered for jump school. After training, he weighed too much for jump school. Then he was sent to Camp Pickett, Virginia. This was a troop depot from where the men were sent to several different places. He was originally supposed to go to Alaska. He did not want to go there. He met men from all over the country around his age. He was in Camp Pickett for two weeks, then he went to Seattle, Washington by train. It was crowded and took six nights and five days.

Charles Chartier thought he would go where it was nice and warm. He joined his outfit overseas. As they left Seattle, Washington, they hit a terrible storm. The ship had been rolling and tossing. He went to a top bunk to get away from the other guys who were puking. Chartier volunteered to be an electrician. He got an early chow pass because he volunteered. It took 27 days to cross the ocean. He was stationed in Shanghai [Annotator’s Note: Shanghai, China]. They did not have KP [Annotator's Note: kitchen patrol or kitchen police]. The government gave planes to Shanghai. It was interesting to hear the stories from all the pilots. Chartier enjoyed Shanghai. He could get a vehicle to take trips if he wanted to. They had a golf course. There were thousands of airplanes. After Shanghai, they went to Korea. He rode on Higgins boats [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat]. Some of the guys would lose their barracks bags going down the rope ladders.

Charles Chartier was sent to a replacement depot in Korea. He joined the 63rd Infantry [Annotator’s Note: 63rd Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division]. They were at a former Japanese airfield. Chartier was a driver for the company. The company was low on men because everyone was going home. He was a private. They tore down what was left of the Japanese buildings. The military government was just getting started so Korea could take care of itself. The Koreans were good people to work with and for. They were very nice and dependable. They had been under Japanese rule since 1931. They did not have electricity, so they had to use generators. They did not have a cook. Everybody had a house boy. About six men would be in a hut that was furnished by the Army. Chartier moved out to the motor pool area. Some of the officers still wanted to be officers so he tried to stay out of sight. New guys were coming all the time. The Corps of Engineers was bringing in all the materials for buildings. G.I.s [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] were bossing the Koreans. They were storing all the new stuff that was coming in. Chartier was in Korea for 14 months. He was ready to go home. He went around and looked at all the sights and the countryside. He would use his M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand] to go hunting. He carved dates on his mess kit. When he returned to California, he had to turn in all his gear.

Charles Chartier returned to the United States around Christmas of 1946. The trip home was a lot shorter than the trip over. It took about 10 or 11 days. They returned to California. He was discharged and processed right after getting off the ship. He was in a heavy weapons company while in Korea. They made ice cream there. He would deliver the ice cream to other companies. He was discharged from Fort Ord, California in March. He did not want to stay in the military. He knew he had to get a job. He was home for a week and had to pay an insurance bill. Plumbers and brick layers were getting top pay, so he decided he would be a bricklayer. He only went to school up to the eighth grade. He joined the union and worked for the union from then on. He enjoyed getting to travel while in the service. He learned he had to make his own way. He stayed in touch with one guy from Texas after the war. He served to do the job and protect the United States. He is glad he served and he would do it again. The legacy of World War Two is important in order to protect ourselves. He thinks it is necessary to teach World War Two.