lest we forget

PENN, CHARLES HUGHES

Rank / Branch:

  • MAJOR, U.S. AIR FORCE

Date Of Birth:

  • 1916-07-25

Country Of Loss:

  • SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

  • OTHER ACCIDENT

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:​

  • GROUND

Other:

  • MARRIED

Unit:

  • 13TH AIR FORCE

Date Of Loss:

  • 1966-04-11

Loss Coordinates:

  • QUANG NAM

Catagory:

  • BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

  • SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

  • PENN, CHARLES HUGHES PENN, U.S. AIR FORCE, BIG SPRING, HOWARD COUNTY, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

  • AIR FORCE SENIOR PILOT WINGS, PURPLE HEART, AiIR FORCE COMMENDATIONS MEDAL WITH 2 OAK LEAF CLUSTERS, AIR FORCE RESERVE MEDAL WITH HOUR GLASS, AIR FORCE LONGEVITY MEDAL WITH BRONZE STAR, GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, POW MEDAL (WW II), AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST,AND EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN MEDALS, WORLD WAR 2 VICTORY MEDAL AND CAMPAIGN MEDAL, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL WITH OAK LEAF CLUSTER, KOREA SERVICE MEDAL, UNITED NATION'S EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL FOR KOREA, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

  • Charles or has he preferred to be called Chuck, was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the youngest of 11 children. He entered the Army Air Corp as an enlisted man in 1940 and became a flight officer candidate in 1942. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant after flight school and was trained to fly the B-17. He served in the African, Middle East and Western European theaters during World War II. His B-17 was shot down over Germany in 1943 and he was captured and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner of war. He was released after the war after 21 months of captivity. He separated from the Army Air Corp and returned to civilian life and worked as a building contractor. He remained in the reserves. He completed his B.S. Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland in 1950.
  • He married Evelyn Virginia in 1947 and became the father of four children, Charles Jr. born in 1948, Lee Dickson, born in 1950, Deborah born in 1956 and James Lawson born in 1959. During the Korean Conflict, he was recalled to active duty with the U.S. Air Force. He flew transport planes and also worked in a civil engineering capacity during the Korean War. He spent 18 months in the Korean theater. After the Korean War, he remained in the Air Force on active duty as a Civil Engineer and completed his M.S. degree at the Air Force Advanced School of Engineering at the Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio.
  • He was assigned as the Chief of Civil Engineering at Webb Air Force Base in 1963 from an assignment in Germany. The family resided on base and his wife became very involved in the community. She started a dance studio which catered to the youth of Big Spring. In the fall of 1965, he was assigned to work as the Chief Resident Engineer assigned to the 6003rd Support Squadron, 13th Air Force and was assigned to work primarily with the U.S. Navy in the Da Nang Area of Vietnam. He was killed in an accidental homicide on April 11, 1966. Details are unknown.
  • He was buried with full military honors in Lexington, Kentucky. He was survived by his wife and four children who were living off-base and remained in Big Spring until the oldest son graduated from high school. At the time of his death, his oldest son, Chuck, Jr. was a junior at Big Spring High School, his son Dick was a student at Goliad Junior High School, Debbie and James were students at Marcy Elementary. In the summer of 1967, his family then moved to Lexington, Kentucky where Chuck Jr. enrolled at Bowling Green College as a premed student.
  • Major Penn had served in a military capacity for his country for 27 years, 20 years of which were spent on active duty.
  • GEORGETOWN CEMETERY, GEORGETOWN, KENTUCKY
  • STANDUP HEADSTONE, GEORGETOWN CEMETERY, GEORGETOWN, KENTUCKY