As we move into the final months of 2013, we begin to turn our attention to the holiday season. On December 14-15, the
National D-Day Memorial will host a special presentation entitled Flames of
Memory and Christmas in Wartime. As
twilight deepens and obscures the Blue Ridge, thousands of luminaries will
shine in recognition and remembrance of all D-Day fallen. With your help we can honor all 4,413 men killed on D-Day in this beautiful,
moving display. Click here for more information on Flames of Memory.
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Charles Percival Blankenship was born on October 12, 1919
in Rock Hill, SC and grew up in Buncombe County, NC. Eldest son of Bernard & Margaret Blankenship, Charles had four brothers
and two sisters. Charles enlisted in the
US Army on September 12, 1940 in Charlotte, NC.
His enlistment record notes that he had four years high school education
and “unskilled occupations in manufacture of textiles.” He stood at 6’1” and weighed 150 pounds. When the 82nd Airborne was formed
in 1942, Charles volunteered for service with the “All-Americans.” After rigorous training at Fort Benning,
Georgia, he left for Europe as part of F-Company, 505th Parachute
Infantry Regiment (PIR).
Prior to D-Day, Charles made
combat jumps in Sicily as part of Operation Husky. In December 1943, F-Company was located to Belfast
in Northern Ireland for a three month stay to prepare for the D-Day landings. It was here that Charles met Lillian
Forbes. They had a fast relationship and
were engaged prior to Charles leaving; however, they decided to hold off on the
wedding until the end of the war.
Charles jumped into St. Mere-Eglise in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. Charles landed in the town square and was killed immediately. Twelve men of F-Company were killed, wounded, or captured as they parachuted into the town square. By the end of the day, St. Mere-Eglise was the first town liberated on D-Day. F-Company, as well as all the other American paratroopers, are remembered in St. Mere-Eglise through a number of memorials--including a paratrooper (John Steele) hanging off of the church steeple.
Charles jumped into St. Mere-Eglise in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. Charles landed in the town square and was killed immediately. Twelve men of F-Company were killed, wounded, or captured as they parachuted into the town square. By the end of the day, St. Mere-Eglise was the first town liberated on D-Day. F-Company, as well as all the other American paratroopers, are remembered in St. Mere-Eglise through a number of memorials--including a paratrooper (John Steele) hanging off of the church steeple.
Charles was buried in Cemetery
1 in St. Mere-Eglise. His family was
notified by Lillian that Charles had been killed in action after reading his
name on a casualty list. In 1948, his
father requested to have his body returned to the United States for burial in
the family cemetery in Rock Hill, SC – a ceremony that took place on June 5,
1948. Two other Blankenship sons were
involved in WWII: Bernard Jr. was in the
Army Air Corps in the Pacific and John served in the Navy toward the end of the
war.
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| Charles P. Blankenship on plaque W-14 at the National D-Day Memorial |
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