Charles Holden
US Navy - Machinists Mate 2nd
USS St. Paul and USS Ranger
Korea/Vietnam’52-‘68
Charles Holden was born on December 6, 1933 in Brevard, NC. His family were sharecroppers raising gladiolas, baby’s breath, and lima beans. Charles had three younger sisters and they all attended Brevard High School. Charles was one of 91 students in the graduating class of May 1952. “Growing up in Brevard was nice, quiet and peaceful. We’d go to town on Saturday afternoon and sit on the running board of the vehicle and talk to everyone who was walking up and down the street. Back then you knew everybody. Saturday afternoon you come to town and get a little dab of groceries and catch up on all the gossip.”
Charles had three uncles who were in the WW2. Two were in the Army and one was in the Navy. I asked if they talked to him about their time in WW2. “Very little.” Charles looked up to these men, so when he graduated from high school he enlisted in the Navy. “I didn’t want the Army.”
He enlisted in December ’52 and in March ’53 he left for 10 weeks of basic training in San Diego. “It was rough but being a farm boy, it wasn’t too bad. That was the first time Charles had been away from home. “It was rough to start with, but you got used to it.” Charles wrote letters home and would receive letters from his mother and sisters weekly. “At that time just about all the young boys were going into the service because that was right in the middle of the Korean War.”
Charles was assigned to the USS St. Paul CH-173. It was a heavy cruiser with 8 inch guns. Charles was a machinist’s mate in the engine room and he remembers it being quite hot. All his training was on the job. He served as a fireman and kept the pumps running, changed the oil and packing and kept the boiler running. When the guns were fired “it would shake the ship.”
Charles took a transport ship to meet the USS St. Paul in Yokosuka, Japan. The ship then spent 4 months off the coast of Korea providing fire support. The treaty to end the hostilities of the Korean War was signed July 27, 1953 and the last shot fired during that war was by the USS St. Paul. In 1945 the USS St. Paul had fired the last shot against the Japanese.
Charles remembered the greatest danger to the ship being the mines in the Wonson and Incheon harbors. He also recalled the occasion when the center barrel of #2 turret exploded and killed quite a few men.
When the fighting stopped the ship headed to the Naval base in Bremerton Oregon for an overhaul. They were there for six and a half months and then headed back to Japan for drills. In December of 1954 Charles transferred to USS Toledo which was also a heavy cruiser. In December 1955 Charles reported to Bremerton Washington and transferred to the Franklin D. Roosevelt. The FDR was an aircraft carrier and was considerably larger than any previous ship he had been on. The FDR headed to Mayport Florida where they operated off Cuba and much of the time was spent qualifying the pilots in carrier landings. Sometime in 1957 Charles reported for Shore Duty.
Over the next several years, Charles served on the USS Cunningham and the USS Thomas and had several tours of shore duty. Charles got to see Hong Kong several times. “It was nice.”
In December of 1967 he picked up the USS Ranger off the coast of Vietnam. The USS Ranger was an aircraft carrier CA-61. They were off the coast of Vietnam with a very high tempo of flights. The prevalent aircraft was the F4 Phantom. “We lost a couple of pilots. Don’t know if they were captured or died. You kept track of the people you worked with.”
I asked if being out at seas for six months was tough. “No. You had your daily routine. You watched the sun rise and the sun set. You could go up on deck and look at the sea and one day its clear as can be. Two days later buddy and you go over one way and under two. When we went around Cape Horn off the tip of South American it was rough where the Atlantic and the Pacific meets together.”
In December of 1968 Charles was discharged. I asked why he left. “Momma’s and Congress.” “I’d tell a kid what to do and he didn’t like it and he would write his momma and tell her I was pickin’ on him, and she would call her Congressman. In a week or 10 days I was up before the old man wantin’ to know why I was pickin’ on that kid.”
After his time in the service Charles worked for the City of Brevard for four years at the Brevard Waste Treatment plant. In July 1974 he went to work at Ecusta Paper which was one of the largest employers in the area at the time. The primary products were cigarette paper and the paper for King James Bible. Charles in the maintenance at the boiler house which was in line with his experience in the Navy. He retired from Ecusta in December in 1995.
In 1948 Charles met his future wife in Brevard High School but they went their separate ways. She went into nursing, and he went into the Navy. 25 years later they met through a friend and got married in 1976. They were married 31 years. Charles has three children and wo grandchildren.
Charles enjoyed his time in the Navy and made some friends. He remembers sitting with a buddy when they first entered the service. They tore a dollar bill in half and said when they got out of the service they would get back together and have a party with the dollar. Unfortunately, his buddy died in Vietnam.
Although he never lived outside of Brevard he went around the world a couple of times. “I went from 40 below (Korea) to 120 above (Vietnam).”
Thank you, Charles, for serving your country in two wars. You did your share.
Charles had three uncles who were in the WW2. Two were in the Army and one was in the Navy. I asked if they talked to him about their time in WW2. “Very little.” Charles looked up to these men, so when he graduated from high school he enlisted in the Navy. “I didn’t want the Army.”
He enlisted in December ’52 and in March ’53 he left for 10 weeks of basic training in San Diego. “It was rough but being a farm boy, it wasn’t too bad. That was the first time Charles had been away from home. “It was rough to start with, but you got used to it.” Charles wrote letters home and would receive letters from his mother and sisters weekly. “At that time just about all the young boys were going into the service because that was right in the middle of the Korean War.”
Charles was assigned to the USS St. Paul CH-173. It was a heavy cruiser with 8 inch guns. Charles was a machinist’s mate in the engine room and he remembers it being quite hot. All his training was on the job. He served as a fireman and kept the pumps running, changed the oil and packing and kept the boiler running. When the guns were fired “it would shake the ship.”
Charles took a transport ship to meet the USS St. Paul in Yokosuka, Japan. The ship then spent 4 months off the coast of Korea providing fire support. The treaty to end the hostilities of the Korean War was signed July 27, 1953 and the last shot fired during that war was by the USS St. Paul. In 1945 the USS St. Paul had fired the last shot against the Japanese.
Charles remembered the greatest danger to the ship being the mines in the Wonson and Incheon harbors. He also recalled the occasion when the center barrel of #2 turret exploded and killed quite a few men.
When the fighting stopped the ship headed to the Naval base in Bremerton Oregon for an overhaul. They were there for six and a half months and then headed back to Japan for drills. In December of 1954 Charles transferred to USS Toledo which was also a heavy cruiser. In December 1955 Charles reported to Bremerton Washington and transferred to the Franklin D. Roosevelt. The FDR was an aircraft carrier and was considerably larger than any previous ship he had been on. The FDR headed to Mayport Florida where they operated off Cuba and much of the time was spent qualifying the pilots in carrier landings. Sometime in 1957 Charles reported for Shore Duty.
Over the next several years, Charles served on the USS Cunningham and the USS Thomas and had several tours of shore duty. Charles got to see Hong Kong several times. “It was nice.”
In December of 1967 he picked up the USS Ranger off the coast of Vietnam. The USS Ranger was an aircraft carrier CA-61. They were off the coast of Vietnam with a very high tempo of flights. The prevalent aircraft was the F4 Phantom. “We lost a couple of pilots. Don’t know if they were captured or died. You kept track of the people you worked with.”
I asked if being out at seas for six months was tough. “No. You had your daily routine. You watched the sun rise and the sun set. You could go up on deck and look at the sea and one day its clear as can be. Two days later buddy and you go over one way and under two. When we went around Cape Horn off the tip of South American it was rough where the Atlantic and the Pacific meets together.”
In December of 1968 Charles was discharged. I asked why he left. “Momma’s and Congress.” “I’d tell a kid what to do and he didn’t like it and he would write his momma and tell her I was pickin’ on him, and she would call her Congressman. In a week or 10 days I was up before the old man wantin’ to know why I was pickin’ on that kid.”
After his time in the service Charles worked for the City of Brevard for four years at the Brevard Waste Treatment plant. In July 1974 he went to work at Ecusta Paper which was one of the largest employers in the area at the time. The primary products were cigarette paper and the paper for King James Bible. Charles in the maintenance at the boiler house which was in line with his experience in the Navy. He retired from Ecusta in December in 1995.
In 1948 Charles met his future wife in Brevard High School but they went their separate ways. She went into nursing, and he went into the Navy. 25 years later they met through a friend and got married in 1976. They were married 31 years. Charles has three children and wo grandchildren.
Charles enjoyed his time in the Navy and made some friends. He remembers sitting with a buddy when they first entered the service. They tore a dollar bill in half and said when they got out of the service they would get back together and have a party with the dollar. Unfortunately, his buddy died in Vietnam.
Although he never lived outside of Brevard he went around the world a couple of times. “I went from 40 below (Korea) to 120 above (Vietnam).”
Thank you, Charles, for serving your country in two wars. You did your share.