Posted by XXXXXXXXXXXX on April 21, 2008:

Charles Frederick McGee NO. 16632 CLASS OF 1948 KILLED IN ACTION, AUGUST 9, 1950, IN KOREA AOED 24 YEARS LIEUTENANT CHARlES FREDERICK MCGEE was born on December 16, 1925 of Walter R. and Helen Frederick McGee in Allentown, Pa., where he spent his life up to the time he entered West Point. As a boy, he excelled in an unpretentious fashion in whatever he undertook. His homework books in school were models in neatness and clarity and his marks were excellent. He was active in all phases of school life and was popular with teachers and students alike. He joined the Boy Scouts and later the Sea Scouts and eventually won all the awards in the scope of these organizations. Graduating from High School, he looked forward to the career which eventually led him to the Point. He was raised with his sister Catharine Jane in a devoutly religious family and he took an increasing interest in the Church of which they were all members. He was a lad of high spirits and naturally indulged in the innocent pranks of boyhood. Charles was an affectionate son who adored his mother and idolized his father, and at no time did he give them cause for worry. I had a very deep affection for Charles and he returned it and our relationship grew as he matured. Due to the absence of his father overseas as a member of the Armed Forces at the time, it was the privilege of his sister, Catharine Jane, and mine to accompany him to West Point on July 1st, 1944 to matriculate, and I visited him there at later intervals. Our meetings were mutually most enjoyable. Naturally under the discipline maintained at the Academy, Charles met his responsibilities and became a man. When it was time to leave at graduation, he gave indications of the stuff of which he was made and as he assumed the responsibilities of an officer in our Armed Forces, he was ready to meet any event in line of duty. He adored the Service. He was transferred to Japan in 1949. His letters from there were full of his work and unconsciously, between the lines, we sensed his growing interest. On the battlefield in far off Korea, his first thought was for his men, and he demonstrated it by an act over and above the call of duty before a sniper's bullet cut him down, paying for it with that priceless thing, his life, on August 9, 1950. Truly he gave his all for God and Country. It is not for me in my feeble words to eulogize this noble and courageous young man. Indeed his memory is enshrined deep in the hearts of his relatives and friends and his annals are inscribed in the permanent records of the Country he loved and served with such brilliance in his short life. He is survived by his father, Colonel Walter H. McGee and his stepmother, Isabella R. McGee of Catasauqua, Pa. and by his sister, Catharine Jane McGee of Reading, Pa. Jesus though our hearts are bleeding, O'er the spoils that death has won, We would at this solemn moment, Calmly say "Thy will be done". In proud reverence, —William I. McGee

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