Charles was a WWII casualty following the twelve minute sinking of the USS Indianapolis (CL-35), torpedoed by a Japanese submarine between Guam and the Philippines, on June 30, 1945. It was the greatest loss of life for a single ship in the history of the U.S. Navy. Of the 1,196 crewmen, only 317 survived. It is believed that those victims who escaped from the immediate sinking died of exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning and shark attacks (the latter of which was famously detailed in the movie Jaws). Charles, a lieutenant, was not recovered and his name is inscribed in the ship’s monument in Indianapolis, Ind.