Charles Grady McCalvin was born on August 11, 1918, in Monaville, Logan County, West Virginia. He was the son of William M. McCalvin and Carrie Ann Morman McCalvin.

Charles had three years of high school, had a civil occupation as a semiskilled miner and mining machine operator, and was single without dependents upon enlistment. He entered military service at Fort Thomas Newport, Kentucky, on March 12, 1942. Charles served in Company E, 2nd Ranger Battalion, as a Technician 5th Grade during World War II. He was Missing in Action on June 6, 1944, at the age of 25, at Pointe du Hoc, during the American assault on Omaha and Utah beaches in France. T5 McCalvin is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing, Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-Sur-Mer, France.