Posted by Stan Bacon on November 10, 2002:

Charley was one of '57's gifts to our class. And what a magnificent gift he was. The Cadet Prayer definitely had men like Charley in mind when it admonished us to "Kindle our hearts in fellowship with those of a cheerful countenance,..." He was the epitome of cheerfulness and fellowship. I first encountered Charley at the beginning of our second semester plebe year when I walked into my room to find him standing there with a big smile on his face -- my new roommate. Lee Trinkle had succumbed to academics, leaving Pete Millspaugh and me without a third roomie. So Charley, a recognized plebe, joined us to bring a full measure of joy to our lives and carry us through the rest of that challenging year with cheerfulness, advice and support -- always ready to lend a hand, even while faced with his own challenges in fulfilling his long time dream of becoming a USMA grad dedicated to a lifetime of serving his country. His cheerful countenance quickly went on to win the friendship and affection of his company classmates, then spread rapidly throughout the company and eventually to all those who had the good fortune to know him. I had little opportunity to see Charley throughout our careers save for the occasional reunion when I delighted in catching up with him. It was only in these last few years that we were able to renew our bond when I became Charley's assistant as he performed I-2's CCQ duties, bringing smiles to our faces with his "Regimentally yours" emails to the company. I took over those responsibilities as he became increasingly ill, and it became my job to visit with him by phone each week or so, find out how he was doing and pass that on to the rest of the company. The CC: addresses on those email reports grew steadily in number as so many other classmates were anxious to know how he was faring in his brave fight to win out over cancer. It became abundantly clear that Charley had developed a multitude of close friendships throughout his life's journey. And when he became too weak to answer the phone, it tore me up to hear that strong voice of his on the answering machine -- "I'm out of the galaxy" He is sorely missed by so many of us.

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