Charles Byrd Baxter was born on 2 April 1910 to Lorenzo Dow Baxter Sr. and Elizabeth Beatrice Hughes. He was married to Jessie Hampton.
He enlisted in the air corps in July, 1931, and was sent to Fort Bragg, N.C., for his training. Sgt. Baxter was at Hickam Field, Hawaii,, when the Japanese attacked on December 7. Later he was sent to China and fought along the Burma road. He was in Java when the Japanese captured the island. He escaped and reached Australia and remained there until his death. He died non Battle 21 August 1942 in a hospital at Brisbane, Australia since he had an attack of pneumonia in July.
Buried in the Knoxville National Cemetery, B, 6276
Returned from Ipswich USAF Cemetery, Brisbane, Australia.
The Erwin Record, May 13, 1948
The body of Staff Sergeant Charles D. Baxter, husband of Jessie Hampton Baxter, and son of Mr. and Mrs. L.D. Baxter of Erwin, is being sent to the United States from Honolulu, aboard the United States Transport Cardinal O’Connell, and Baxter’s body will be sent from San Francisco to the Atlanta Distribution Center. Mrs. L.D. Baxter, his mother, has been contacted and stated that the family had made no plans until further notification, except that S-Sgt. Baxter will be given a military funeral and burial at the national cemetery in Knoxville.
The Johnson City Press, 24 June 1948
The body of Staff Sergeant Charles Byrd Baxter, 32, son of Mr. and Mrs. L.D. Baxter, will arrive today in Knoxville. Staff Sergeant Baxter died in a Brisbane, Australia, hospital August 21, 1942, where he had been a patient since April of that year. A graduate aerial photographer-navigator, he was serving as a bombardier in the Army Air Forces at the time of his fatal illness.
- Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Date of birth: 2 April 1910
- Date of death: 21 August 1942
- County: Unicoi
- Hometown: Erwin
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Theater: Pacific
- Conflict: World War II
- Battles: Pearl Harbor
- Burial/Memorial Location: Knoxville National Cemetery, Knoxville, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XIX, Top Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Charles B. Baxter
Image Gallery
Click a thumbnail below to view at full size.
