Class Note 1944

Boy, do we have a war story for you. We spoke with Charles McDowell, retired admiral of the Navy, at some length. Charles enlisted in the Army in 1943 and ended up in basic training at Fort Eustis along with a group of six other Dartmouth enlistees. He became a corporal and remained there to train new recruits until November of 1944, when he was sent overseas with the 9th Armored Division Infantry Battalion. On March 7 his division was the first to cross the Rhine. After being wounded he was sent back to England and was recovering there when the war ended in Europe. From there, he served an additional year in the Pacific theater. Charles completed his degree in 1947 and continued his education at UVA Law School, graduating first in his class. He “married a Texan,” he says, and moved to Houston to practice law for an oil company. When the Korean War started he was called back to Army service, which didn’t want lawyers, just infantrymen. Eventually the Army agreed to let him go to the Navy (which wanted lawyers). He and his wife, Carolyn, loved the Navy life. They were stationed on both coasts in addition to Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Washington, D.C., and finally landed in England for three years, with Charles serving as commander-in-chief of the U.S. naval forces of Europe. He retired from the Navy in 1980 and moved to Virginia to become a “country lawyer” from 1992 to 1997. A pretty unusual path for an Army private, first class. Charles says he wore his Army Combat Medal on his Navy uniform all those years. These days he has some breathing problems, but stays busy working for his church in Alexandria, Virginia.


—Betty Munson ’44a, 23 Linscott Road N., York, ME 03909; emmunson1944@gmail.com