CHARLES R. WARE, LT, USN

Charles Ware '34

Date of birth: March 11, 1911

Date of death: June 4, 1942

Age: 31

Lucky Bag

From the 1934 Lucky Bag:

CHARLES ROLLINS WARE

Knoxville, Tennessee

"Charlie" "Rollo" "Chuck"

He has dragged from fourteen states, two territories, Sweden, Denmark, and Spain. All in all quite a favorite with the ladies. You know some are born with it, others acquire it — reference is suggested to Baltimore. Enough about the femmes.

Classical music and in fact most any kind appeals to him, although he was one of two men who went their entire Second Class Year without a Vic. Brain power, quoting Charlie, is something to be acquired after long years of arduous struggle. During our sojourn here he has come up from behind more than once.

His early days were spent in sunny Tennessee. Receiving the cosmic urge, or whatever one cares to call it, for higher education he entrenched himself in our stronghold here on the Severn.

In dabbling in various fields of endeavor this character has no peer — all the way from firing a rifle to tumbling. Possessing a seemingly natural bent for cheer leading and being an ardent sport enthusiast our All-American cheering section was greatly benefited by his presence in the cheer leader's boots.

Charlie is an interesting fellow to talk to and quite an asset to any gathering. A good smile coupled with the knack of getting along with people will serve him well in the future. After visiting about half the globe he says it's a jolly old world after all. We feel that his time here was well spent. On parting we say with all sincerity "adios" . . . until we meet again.

Cheer-leader. Rifle Team 2, 1. 2 P.O.

CHARLES ROLLINS WARE

Knoxville, Tennessee

"Charlie" "Rollo" "Chuck"

He has dragged from fourteen states, two territories, Sweden, Denmark, and Spain. All in all quite a favorite with the ladies. You know some are born with it, others acquire it — reference is suggested to Baltimore. Enough about the femmes.

Classical music and in fact most any kind appeals to him, although he was one of two men who went their entire Second Class Year without a Vic. Brain power, quoting Charlie, is something to be acquired after long years of arduous struggle. During our sojourn here he has come up from behind more than once.

His early days were spent in sunny Tennessee. Receiving the cosmic urge, or whatever one cares to call it, for higher education he entrenched himself in our stronghold here on the Severn.

In dabbling in various fields of endeavor this character has no peer — all the way from firing a rifle to tumbling. Possessing a seemingly natural bent for cheer leading and being an ardent sport enthusiast our All-American cheering section was greatly benefited by his presence in the cheer leader's boots.

Charlie is an interesting fellow to talk to and quite an asset to any gathering. A good smile coupled with the knack of getting along with people will serve him well in the future. After visiting about half the globe he says it's a jolly old world after all. We feel that his time here was well spent. On parting we say with all sincerity "adios" . . . until we meet again.

Cheer-leader. Rifle Team 2, 1. 2 P.O.

Loss

Charles was killed in action when he failed to return from a strike on the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942.

Other Information

From Military Hall of Honor:

Charles Rollins was the son of Walter Levi/Lee Ware and Retta Arvazena “Zena” Hunt who married in Tennessee about 1908. Charles' siblings were Howard Rollins, Willard Lee, and Marie Louise Ware McDonald. Walter and Zena were divorced before 1930. The children stayed with their mother and Walter remarried before 1934.
Charles graduated from Knoxville High School in Knoxville, TN on Thursday evening, 31 May 1928, with 423 of his classmates in Jefferson Hall at the University of Tennessee campus. The class was then largest in the history of the high school. In a twist of irony, the general theme of the commencement program was "The World For Peace." One student speaker's topic was "The Menace of War" in which he outlined the horrors and uselessness of war. World War II would cost Charles his life 14 years later almost to the day.
Charles was a member of his high school student government in his Junior year. During his senior year, Charles had a leading role in the senior class play, “The Admirable Crichton.” His high school major was science. His classmates said of him, “His only fault is, he has no faults.” He was the Business Manager of the school's Blue and White newspaper; Treasurer Hi-Y Club; and President of Quill and Scroll, the national honorary society for high school journalists. He was also a cadet officer with his award winning high school R.O.T.C. unit. His Senior Class Prophecy said he would become an army colonel. After graduation Charles was employed as an usher at the Tennessee theater in Knoxville.
Eighteen years later in 1946, Charles was honored with a wall plaque with 127 other Knoxville High School graduates, who over time, died for “Service and Sacrifice for God and Country.”
Ware began his US Navy application for enlistment not long after he graduated from high school. That process included sitting for an aptitude test, physical exam, personal references, police background checks, filling-out various forms and most importantly obtaining his mother's written consent for him to enlist. Charles was accepted for enlistment into the US Navy, and on 13 Jun 1929, with his mother's permission, Charles enlisted in the US Navy from Athens, TN as an Apprentice Seaman (A.S.) for either a 4 or 6 year commitment. Several days later, A.S. Ware arrived at the Naval Training Station (NTS), Great Lakes, IL for 9-weeks of basic training. Toward the end of basic training, A.S. Ware requested an appointment to the US Naval Academy. He sat for a qualifying examination scoring very well, but he did not qualify for direct appointment. However, his scores were high enough that he did qualify for entry into the 6 month Naval Academy Prep School at Hampton Roads, VA. That school would in-effect be his tutor to help him sharpen his academic skills in certain areas like math, science and English. When he finished Prep School in early April 1930, Ware sat for the service-wide competitive Academy entrance exam on 15 April 1930. There were only 100 at-large Naval Academy billets available for fleet personnel. For Charles this was a must-be-selected exam, or he would have to serve out his enlistment in the US Navy fleet in enlisted status.
His examination scores qualified AS Ware for one of the 100 US Navy enlisted men at-large appointments to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD. Just prior to entering the Naval Academy, A.S. Ware was honorably discharged from enlisted status active duty and the following day he took the oath of office as a Naval Academy Midshipman and accepted the appointment. He entered on 27 Jun 1930 becoming a naval academy midshipman.

From Wikipedia's entry:

Charles Rollins Ware was born on 11 March 1911 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He enlisted in the United States Navy on 14 June 1929, and in 1930 was appointed to the United States Naval Academy.
After graduation in 1934, Ware served on the battleship USS Texas (BB-35) and the destroyer USS Dahlgren (DD-187) until February 1940, when he entered flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola at Pensacola, Florida.
Serving as a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber pilot with Scouting Squadron 6 (VS-6) based on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), Lieutenant Ware and his division of six SBDs attacked the carrier Kaga on 4 June 1942, one of four Japanese carriers sunk in the Battle of Midway.
During their return to the Enterprise they successfully fought off attacks by Japanese fighters, but ran out of fuel and were forced to ditch in the vast Pacific. One crew was rescued and another crew was picked up by a Japanese destroyer and later executed when the enemy sailors learned of their fleet's losses. Ware and the other SBD crewmen were reported missing in action.

There is more detail on his life and career at Military Hall of Honor.

His mother was listed as next of kin.

Charles is remembered at the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii.

Photographs

VS-6 in May 1942. Charlie is seated 3rd from left.

Navy Cross

From Hall of Valor:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Charles Rollins Ware (NSN: 0-73633), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Scouting Plane of Scouting Squadron SIX (VS-6), attached to the U.S.S. ENTERPRISE (CV-6), during the "Air Battle of Midway," against enemy Japanese forces on 4 - 6 June 1942. Participating in a devastating assault against a Japanese invasion fleet, Lieutenant Ware, with fortitude and resolute devotion to duty, pressed home his attacks in the face of a formidable barrage of anti-aircraft fire and fierce fighter opposition. His gallant perseverance and disregard for his own personal safety were important contributing factors to the success achieved by our forces and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 309 (December 1942)
Action Date: June 4 - 6, 1942
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant
Company: Scouting Squadron 6 (VS-6)
Division: U.S.S. Enterprise (CV-6)

Namesakes

The planned destroyer escort USS Charles R. Ware (DE 547) was named for Charlie, but was cancelled in 1944 before construction could begin.

In 1945 the destroyer USS Charles R. Ware (DD 865) was named in his honor.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.