Charles Andrews Sprague was born on August 6, 1914, in Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Connecticut. He was the son of Charles Harry Sprague and Emma Bertha White Sprague. He was married to Lillian Marie Oehlslager Sprague Strathern. He joined the Citizens Military Training Corps at sixteen and earned his West Point appointment through the National Guard in 1933, graduating in 1937. He trained as a pilot at Randolph Field and was later assigned to the Philippines in May 1941.

In the Philippines, Charles served as Air Operations Officer under Brigadier General Henry R. Claggett, working with 39 fellow West Point classmates to reinforce the islands’ weak defenses after years of neglect. With almost no anti-aircraft protection, limited radar, and poor communications, the situation was dire, what Gen. George Kenney would call “too little, too late.” Despite these obstacles, Bud and his small team worked tirelessly. On September 12, 1941, he demonstrated quick thinking by flying a P-40 through a typhoon to guide incoming B-17 bombers to safety at Clark Field. Following the Japanese attack on December 7, the air forces retreated to Bataan, where on December 26, Charles achieved his first aerial victory by shooting down a Japanese dive bomber.

On January 2, 1942, Charles and seven fellow pilots set out for Australia to secure P-40 fighters for the Philippines, surviving a harrowing journey in a bullet-riddled Beechcraft that crash-landed in Borneo before rescue and transport to Brisbane. There, he formed the 17th Provisional Pursuit Squadron and led it to Darwin, then to Java after Japanese advances cut their route home. Facing dire conditions, scarce supplies, no spare parts, and primitive airfields, Charles personally funded his men. Operating from a makeshift base at Ngoru, the squadron fought under extreme adversity. On February 20, 1942, he led an all-out Allied air strike against Japanese forces on Bali; though the mission succeeded, four P-40s were lost, and among the fallen was recently-promoted Lieutenant Colonel Sprague. He is now buried in the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery, West Point, Orange County, New York, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, alumni.westpointaog.org