| NAME: Charles Howard Barr |
NICKNAME: — |
SERVICE NUMBER: 485480 |
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| HOME OF RECORD: Fullerton, NE |
NEXT OF KIN: Parents, Russell & Minnie Barr |
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| DATE OF BIRTH: 3/3/1922 |
SERVICE DATES: 11/21/1942 – 11/16/1945 |
DATE OF DEATH: 5/13/1993 |
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| CAMPAIGN | UNIT | MOS | RATE | RESULT | |||
| Roi-Namur | C/1/24 | 345 | PFC | ||||
| Saipan | C/1/24 | 345 | Corporal | ||||
| Tinian | C/1/24 | 345 | Corporal | WIA | |||
| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS: Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK: Corporal |
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Charles Barr was the son of Russell and Minnie Barr of Greeley, Nebraska. Although originally employed as a truck driver, Russell eventually took up farming to support his expanding family, and by 1940 Charles and his younger siblings were engaged in rural work in tiny Cedar Township, Nance County. The nearest town was the county seat of Fullerton where the Barr children attended school; Charles had completed most, if not all, of his high school education before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Barr joined the Marine Corps in November 1942, and was sent to MCRD San Diego for boot camp. He either showed some skill for driving (possibly the influence of his father) or perhaps it was merely a Marine Corps assignation, but instead of proceeding to advanced infantry training, Barr attended Motor Transport School at the San Diego base. When the newly-formed 24th Marines arrived at Camp Pendleton, Private Barr was ordered to join Charlie Company, 1st Battalion as a jeep driver.
A promotion to PFC in July, 1943 set the tone for Barr’s service. He was a competent Marine, not given to excesses – surviving muster rolls indicate a spotless disciplinary record – and served with distinction in the company’s first battle on Namur, earning a promotion to Corporal in the spring of 1944. He would go on to serve on Saipan and made the initial landing on Tinian, but was wounded in action during a fanatical banzai charge on the night of July 25, 1944.
The fighting was over for Charles Barr. He was evacuated from Tinian and sent to the Oakland, California naval hospital for treatment, and then to the Naval Training Center at Great Lakes, Illinois for further rehabilitation and light duty. In one of these stations he learned of the death of his father, which had occurred five days after Charles was wounded in action.
Barr was honorably discharged in November, 1945. Unfortunately, little information about his post-war life is available – though he did marry and raise a family before his death in California in 1993.
Charles Barr is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Covina, California.