Grant, Charles Ensworth “Chuck”.

Grant, Charles Ensworth “Chuck”, born 01-03-1922, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, to Francis Bingham Grant (1888–1963) and his wife Katharine A, born Willis Grant (1893–1992). Charles ompleted four years of high school and graduated. After graduation, he had an occupation in fabrication of metal products. Chuck enlisted with the paratroopers on 18-08-1942 in Los Angeles, his hometown. He landed with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment,  101st Airborne Division, “Easy” Company, under command of Major General Maxwell Davenport Taylor

Grant trained at Camp Toccoa under Herbert Sobel. Like many of the men from Easy Company, he made his first combat jump on D-Day in Normandy as part of the Allied invasion of France.

American airborne landings in Normandy were a series of military operations carried by the United States as part of Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy by the Allies on June 6, 1944, during World War II. In the opening maneuver of the Normandy landings, about 13,100 American paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, then 3,937 glider infantrymen, were dropped in Normandy via two parachute and six glider missions.

On 19-09-1944, Grant landed in the Netherlands for Operation Market Garden  Operation Market Garden was an Allied airborne and ground offensive in September 1944, aimed at capturing bridges in the Netherlands to advance more quickly to Germany. The goal was to capture the bridges over the Meuse, Waal and Rhine rivers, but the operation largely failed, particularly due to the battle for the Arnhem bridge. , Charles was wounded while helping to destroy an 88mm gun. In Austria, Grant was named 2nd platoon Staff Sergeant. In July 1945, while driving a jeep with two members of 2nd platoon, Grant came across several dead soldiers: two Germans, a British major, and the major’s driver. A drunken replacement from “I” Company (Private Floyd Wilkinson “Bud” Craver) had shot them, and Sergeant Grant was shot in the head when he confronted the man and attempted to disarm him. Grant survived because of the quick actions of Ronald Speirs   and Jack Edward Foley, who rushed him to an aid station. The medic there told them that Grant would not survive. However, Speirs, not willing to lose Grant, loaded him on a jeep and drove to Saalfelden, where he found a German brain surgeon who was able to operate and save Grant’s life.

The man involved was Private Floyd W. Craver, a replacement in I Company. He was turned over to the MPs and tried at court-martial for the murders of British officers Captain Eduard Altacher and Major Martin Ralph George Watkin. During the course of his trial, the doctors who examined him could not come to a consensus as to whether he was insane at the time of the shootings.

Death and burial ground of Grant, Charles Ensworth “Chuck”.

Chuck here with his friend Muck, Warren H “Skip”   Nonetheless, he was found guilty by a JAG Board of Review and sentenced to life in prison; however, for reasons not entirely clear, he was released shortly after sentencing. Craver died 06-07-1987 (age 65) in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, when, in an act of delayed karma, he was hit by a truck while riding a moped.

Chuck recovery was slow, and until his death, he still had trouble talking, and his left arm was partially paralyzed. He owned a small tobbacco shop in San Francisco, where he lived until his death on 12-10-1982 (age 60) in Laguna Hills, Orange County, California, United States. Chuck is buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles County, California, VS Section Columbarium of Purity and Vigilance, Lot 0, Space 63262.

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