Charles Nathan Lane was born in Carryville, Arkansas in June 1919. Lane recalls the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States] as a child and also remembers the elections of Presidents Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] and Hoover [Annotator's Note: Herbert Clark Hoover, 31st President of the United States]. Lane has always thought of Roosevelt as his hero. He saw improvements in his life and he credits it to Roosevelt’s leadership. Lane spent a year in the CCC [Annotator's Note: Civilian Conservation Corps] when he was 16 years old. He remembers spending a day looking for a job, and when he came home his mother told him, “Son, there is not a bite to eat in this house.” He went to Piggott [Annotator’s Note: Piggott, Arkansas] to a food pantry to get groceries. Lane went the next week to join the CCC and lied about his age to join. The woman in charge, Eileen Spence [Annotator’s Note: phonetic spelling], knew he was lying about his age but let him sign up anyway. Lane’s mother and father separated when he was young. His mother was illiterate, but took good care of him. His father was not a part of his life. In the CCC, Lane worked at Camp Walcott, Arkansas and at Shasta National Park in California. Lane was well-prepared for military life because of the CCC. They had drill instructors in the CCC and did physical work. In Shasta, he was part of a firefighting crew. Lane was only out of the CCC for a year before being drafted into the Army for World War 2. He went to Camp Wallace, Texas for training. He was transferred to satellite bases and given one furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] which was then canceled due to the start of the war. He would spend 42 months in the South Pacific. He was trained on 40mm [Annotator's Note: Bofors 40mm antiaircraft automatic cannon] and .50 caliber machine guns.

Charles Nathan Lane’s first battle was in the Philippines [Annotator’s Note: as part of the 197th Coast Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft)]. He first went to western Australia and then to New Guinea and Hollandia [Annotator’s Note: Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea]. [Annotator’s Note: A voice is heard off camera.] Lane does not recall much about New Guinea because there was not much there. He spent about a year protecting the air base at Nadzab [Annotator’s Note: Nadzab, New Guinea]. Not many Japanese aircraft made it that far and attacked the base while Lane was there. It seemed to him that the Japanese were running low on aircraft and did not have much to spare for the offensive. Lane was there for monsoon season [Annotator’s Note: monsoon refers to a seasonal wind in Southeast Asia that brings rainy or dry weather depending on the time of year] and saw the rain coming down in sheets. He felt sorry for the locals, feeling that they were nice people. The heavy rains from the monsoons caused the revetments [Annotator’s Note: dug-in fortifications] to fill up with water occasionally. The soldiers always had chlorinated water to drink. Lane jokingly blames the salt water for the loss of his hair. Lane loved the Filipino people. They were very good to the soldiers. He never became accustomed to the mud and dirt of the area. He hated the Japanese more because of how horribly they treated the Filipino people. When the Army finished with their meals, the Filipinos lined up to take home the scraps of food left over. Once the Japanese had lost so many planes, Lane was sent with the 98th Regimental Combat Team for infantry duties such as patrols looking for Japanese foot soldiers. He remembers capturing an enemy Japanese soldier once. Captured Japanese soldiers were often taken elsewhere, and Lane did not ask questions. He has nothing but respect for the Filipino people and their resilience. They would make clothing out of the discarded, coarse sacks that the military used. He does not regret anything about his military service and would gladly do it again if he could.

Charles Nathan Lane was part of the 197th Coast Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft) (Semimobile) until the Japanese were running low on planes, then he began helping the 98th Regimental Combat Team. His group received a commendation from a general for doing their duty. Lane was stationed in Tacloban [Annotator’s Note: Tacloban, Philippines] in the province of Leyte. The Japanese attacked using phosphorus bombs [Annotator’s Note: incendiary weapons that caused severe burns] and kamikazes [Annotator’s Note: Japanese planes filled with explosives deliberately crashed into enemies]. The Japanese planes did what they could to find high priority targets, but Lane’s antiaircraft guns were hard to hit. The Allies had P-38s [Annotator's Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft] in the sky protecting them as well. Lane was told that Major Richard Bong [Annotator’s Note: Richard I. Bong, Medal of Honor recipient and the United States top flying ace in World War 2] was also in that area at that time, and Lane witnessed him shoot down a plane. On one occasion, Lane saw a kamikaze directly hit the center of a troop transport. Once when he was attempting to sneak away to take a bath on the beach, he spotted two Jap [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] Zeros [Annotator's Note: Japanese Mitsubishi A6M fighter aircraft, referred to as the Zeke or Zero] flying down the beach he was on. Luckily, he was not hit from this encounter. The Japanese rarely attacked at night, instead opting to raid early in the morning. Lane once had to stay up for days at a time to be ready for enemy attacks. He was the gun commander of his antiaircraft guns. The sergeant gave orders to Lane, who then relayed that information to his crew. He rarely did the actual firing of the gun. The higher flying Japanese bombers dropped phosphorus bombs. Lane was close to being hit by these bombs, but was never actually harmed. While helping with the 98th Regimental Combat Team he lost some friends in the infantry. Some of the other 40mm [Annotator's Note: Bofors 40mm antiaircraft automatic cannon] gun groups were hit, but never anyone from Lane’s own unit.

On occasion, Charles Nathan Lane would be under fire from Japanese snipers. One Japanese sniper fired at a soldier swimming on the beach, who had to take cover behind a nearby bulldozer. The snipers tied themselves to the tops of trees to use as vantage points, but this also left them stuck when discovered. Lane spent over four years in the South Pacific. Most of his time was spent with the 197th Coast Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft) (Semimobile), and some with 98th Regimental Combat Team. While patrolling with the 98th Regimental Combat Team, he captured a Japanese soldier. The other Japanese soldiers were committing suicide rather than being captured. They would fashion grenades into devices that would explode as they jabbed themselves with it [Annotator’s Note: Lane pantomimes hitting himself in the head and chest with an object]. One Japanese soldier surrendered himself to Lane, giving over a box with a pencil, writing paper, and an infant’s article of clothing. He turned his prisoner over to the soldiers taking them away. Lane does not know what happened to that man, but he hopes that he made it home. They did not have any translators with them to speak with the Japanese. One of the worst things about the Philippines was the tall kunai grass [Annotator’s Note: Lane gestures toward the ceiling], which allowed the Japanese to hide in it. He probably went on two or three patrols with the 98th Regimental Combat Team in the few months he was with them [Annotator’s Note: Lane touches his shirt and causes some feedback on the mic]. The weapon he was given for these patrols was the M1 Garand [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand]. He still remembers the number on his personal rifle. He thought the equipment that the AA [Annotator’s Note: antiaircraft] crews had was good. Lane did not find it easy to keep track of if he damaged or took down enemy Japanese planes. The gun crews only concentrated on their tracers. The ack-ack [Annotator's Note: antiaircraft artillery fire] groups had people doing the counting of kills and would paint flags on the side of the gun to show the amount. Lane’s gun had seven or eight flags. While in the South Pacific, Lane caught dengue fever, which he suffered from for years. After coming home, he was still feeling sick so he was examined at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis [Annotator’s Note: St. Louis, Missouri], where he was told it was obvious he was ill, but they did not know the source. Lane applied for extra money as his illness stopped him from working. His application was denied because all of his records had been burned [Annotator’s Note: Lane may be referring to the National Personnel Records Center fire, which destroyed millions of Army records]. Lane was never wounded in combat or in any way. He was stationed at White Beach in Leyte [Annotator’s Note: Leyte, Philippines] for about three months. The infantry went inland and took control of the beach and the air base there. Lane remembers being in Subic Bay [Annotator’s Note: Luzon, Philippines] around this time as well.

Charles Nathan Lane considers himself extremely fortunate and thinks that he had a guardian angel with him when he was stationed in the South Pacific. One time after setting up his gun [Annotator's Note: Bofors 40mm antiaircraft automatic cannon], he realized that in front of him was a live, buried 100 pound bomb with some sort of device spinning around. Several more bombs were found nearby. While he was stationed in Leyte [Annotator’s Note: Leyte, Philippines], there were not ground attacks on his antiaircraft guns. Compared to Tacloban [Annotator’s Note: Tacloban, Philippines] the attacks were not as heavy. The Japanese attacks came in spells, and the higher flying planes would be shot at by the 90s [Annotator’s Note: 90mm heavy antiaircraft gun]. Lane thinks that the Allies not only had better equipment, but also better leadership. He spent several months in the Philippines and did not go to Japan when the war ended. Lane had enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to avoid occupation duty in Japan when the war ended. The war changed Lane's life, and made him conscious of how the different people of the world lived. It gave him compassion. He does not think that the Germans and Japs [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese] hated him, but were fighting just as he was. He loves the United States and does not think the country owes him anything. The hard times that the country suffered through gave it some perspective, both good and bad. As a teacher, Lane sees that many people do not want their children to go through the hardships that they went through, which may sometimes be required. The war showed that the United States could lead the world. The significance of the National World War II Museum is that it is one of the only ways that youth can really learn about World War 2. Lane believes that the United States military in World War 2 was the greatest fighting force ever assembled. The world has changed and it is hard to understand how people act now. Lane believes that people should stand by their word and help each other out when they can.