He was born in Murfreesboro, TN and graduated from Middle Tennessee State College. After 2 years as a reporter on the Murfreesboro News Journal he landed in Martinsville, VA and worked for the Bulletin. How long he remained is not known but he later became editor of the Charlottesville Daily Progress. War clouds covered Europe and Charles elected to join the National Guard rather than be drafted. He enlisted back in Martinsville with H Company, 116th regiment of the famous 29th division. But when America entered the war the 29th was among the first shipped out to England. Cawthon's book Other Clay recounts his regiment's Normandy invasion. The book is listed as Essential Reading on World War II by the Wall Street Journal. This from WWII History: If a person can read only a single World War II memoir this year, this is the book to choose." From American Heritage: "A calm, wise, beautifully written memoir that some think is the finest account we have of World War II combat on the company level." Read selections from the book here.
|
|
