Charles William Gann was born in Birmingham, Alabama and enlisted in the Army from Jefferson County on 25 Marcy 1943. At the time of enlistment, Charles was 19 years old, had 2 years of high school education and was single, without dependents. He served in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment as a Technician Grade 5 during the Normandy invasion of WWII. Charles was captured by Nazi Germany while serving in Belgium, and was sent to Stalag 3A near Luckenwalde, Prussia where 1,215 other American POWs were held. Charles' capture was first reported to the International Committee of the Red Cross on December 19, 1944, and the last report was made on June 11, 1946. Based on these two reports, Charles was imprisoned for at least 539 days. After the war he worked as a survey party chief in engineering for many years. He passes away at 72 years of age after a long illness.