CHARLES MCDAINEL

CHARLES McDANIEL,


Volunteer





Charles McDaniel, a self admitted "glory hound," turns seventy three years

old, on tomorrow, January 28, 1998. He doesn't seek glory in what he does, but

is proud of his accomplishments. Charles believes that the past is good and ought

to be remembered. However, he believes that the present and the future is more

important. He is making it his mission to live the rest of his life serving others -

that is, as much as his tired old body can do. For most of his life he has tried to

serve others.



Charles McDaniel was born in Dublin in 1925. He was a son of Herschel

McDaniel and Nettie Mae Hattaway. His maternal grandfather, S.J. Hattaway,

served many years as the "Boss" of the Laurens County Chaingang. When Charles

was three years old, his father took his own life. McDaniel is proud of the fact that

as a child he lived in a house at 203 Mincey Street, which is now the site of Musetta

Foster's African-American History Museum. After his father died, Charles and his

family moved out to a farm off Claxton Dairy Road. They lived on the Payne Place,

now a part of Brookwood Subdivision. In July of 1940, Charles decided to enlist

in the United States Army. World War II was over a year away. Charles wound

up as a private in Co. E of the 13th Infantry Regiment, 8th Army Division, of

General George Patton's 3rd Army.



Charles had the opportunity to see and hear General Patton. He described

Patton as pretty much like you see in the movies. "He was a "glory hound" like

me," McDaniel said. " He liked to show off his two pistols. I guess that's why

became a "glory hound," McDaniel added. Charles and his company participated

in the Normandy Invasion. "I wasn't in the first wave. We came along a little

later. We didn't see any small arms fire at first, only artillery," McDaniel said.

McDaniel and his fellow infantrymen were met by one hedgerow after another.

"These hedgerows were so thick, that we had to get special equipment to get

through them. When our tanks tried to push through, they went belly up. The

German "88s" blew them apart. While fighting around in western France, about

20 miles inland, Charles was wounded when his weapon misfired. His right hand

was severely wounded and his face suffered flesh wounds.



Charles was taken back behind and lines and put on a transport which he

called a "duck." "All I could remember was seeing the waves. I couldn't see any

water. When we arrived at the hospital ship, they picked us up. They picked the

whole "duck" up and set it on the deck," McDaniel said. He knew he was safe, when

he smelled the sweet perfume of the ship's nurses. "They were beautiful ladies.

After all, I was only nineteen years old," McDaniel fondly remembered. For his

actions in the Normandy Invasion, Charles McDaniel was awarded the Purple

Heart and the Bronze Star. Charles spent the next eight months in an English

hospital. He returned to the states in 1945, first to Boston, and then to Oklahoma.

After about three months he was discharged and sent home.



After the war, Charles worked as a construction lineman for the R.E.A..

Charles returned to Dublin where he worked in the V.A. Hospital until the outbreak

of the Korean War. He transferred to Warner Robins Air Force Base, where he

was an electrical aircraft inspector for twenty years. McDaniel and his crew were

working on the new jet engines. While Charles was working at Warner Robins,

he and others formed a public safety department outside of the base. "There was

no police or fire protection. Outside the gate, you could see Boss Watson's house on

the hill and a few shacks around it. Eventually stores, houses, and other buildings

were built. Ernest Woods was our first chief." McDaniel added. His bosses gave

McDaniel and others administrative leave to volunteer as firemen. While at

Warner Robins, McDaniel suffered the tragedy of his mother's death by drowning

in the pond on the Payne Place.



One accomplishment of which McDaniel is proud is his triumph over

alcoholism. "I must have been the biggest drunk in town," McDaniel lamented.

"Judge Bill White saved my life. The examples he set convinced me to stop

drinking." McDaniel wound up in an Atlanta Hospital. After being dismissed, he

worked as an orderly in the Children's Burn Center at Henrietta Eggleston

Hospital. After a heart attack, Charles McDaniel was sent back to Dublin as a

patient in the Domiciliary at the V.A. Hospital in Dublin. At the hospital, he was

assigned the position of First Sergeant of his ward.



Charles McDaniel left the V.A. and has lived in public housing since then.

About 1985, he moved to the senior section on Druid Street. McDaniel soon

realized that his neighborhood had a big problem - a drug problem. He had to do

something. Brenda Smith, the Housing Authority's Executive Director, encouraged

Charles to do something. When Mrs. Smith's help, Charles and the residents of

Druid Street organized the city's first resident housing council. With the help of

Chief Wayne Fuqua, the residents set up a neighborhood watch program. "We got

rid of most of those drug dealers," McDaniel boasted. Charles saw a need to clean

up Vinson Village. He was put in contact with Patsy Baker, Director of Dublin-

Laurens Clean and Beautiful. Charles went to work and cleaned a lot of the trash

out of his neighborhood. In 1995, McDaniel was named Senior Citizen of the Year

during the St. Patrick's Festival. In 1996, he was given the Humanitarian Award

by the Housing Authority.



In 1996, Charles was nominated to carry the Olympic torch during its

passage through Dublin. He trained for the event and fittingly carried the torch

on the V.A. grounds. Charles gives all the credit for this honor to Patsy Baker and

Cong. J. Roy Rowland. While he likes to talk about his accomplishments, Charles

gives a lot of credit to others. He sports his new badge given to him by the V.A.

Hospital. It says, "Charles McDaniel, Volunteer Ambassador." His proudest

accomplishment, McDaniel says, "is being a volunteer. "This volunteer badge

means more to me than the Congressional Medal of Honor." His next project is to

revive the Dublin tradition of having Veteran's Day parades on the 11th of

November. My question is, why not? After all, don't they deserve it?