Pvt. Charles Arthur Bernhardt Jr. was born on May 18, 1920, in Brooklyn, New York, to Charles A. Bernhardt Sr. and Grace Bernhardt. With his parents and brother, he resided at 1508 South Second Avenue, Maywood, Illinois. He graduated from Garfield School in Maywood, and was a 1938 graduate of Proviso Township High School. After high school, he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. On July 1, 1941, he registered with Selective Service and named his father as his contact person. When he registered he indicated he was owned a store.
Charles was drafted into the US Army on December 14, 1941, and sent to Camp Grant, Illinois, near Rockford for basic training. He also trained at Camp Roberts, California, and Myrtle Beach, North Carolina. It is known Myrtle Beach had a gunnery school. While he was stationed in North Carolina, on June 17, 1943, he married Jeanne Reid, who was also from Maywood, in New Hanover County, Georgia. He became the father of a son. He was sent overseas and assigned to Company F, 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, as a replacement since the division suffered heavy casualties in North Africa.
The 34th Infantry Division took part in the invasion of Italy on September 9, 1943. According to records, on September 12, 1943, near Caselle, Italy, Charles was hit by enemy fire, from a machine gun, and had penetrating wounds in the neck, right leg, and his hip. Records show that Charles was buried in Plot B, Row 16, Grave 191, in the United States Military Cemetery at Castelfiorentino, Italy, southwest of Florence, on September 17, 1944.
CHARLES BERNHARDT SR
1508 SOUTH 2ND AVENUE MAYWOOD IL
THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES ME TO EXPRESS HIS DEEPEST REGRET THAT YOUR SON PRIVATE FIRST CLASS CHARLES A BERHARDT JR WAS KILLED IN ACTION ON TWELVE SEPTEMBER IN ITALY LETTER FOLLOWS
ULIO THE ADJUTENT GENERAL
His father on September 25th, received letter from the Quartermaster Corps stating where his son was buried and the location of the grave in the cemetery. It wasn’t until November 10, 1947, that Charles’ father received another letter from the Office of the Quartermaster General that included information on his options for he wanted his son his son’s final burial. He was asked to fill-out and return an enclosed form. The form was received by the OQMG on December 12, 1947, indicating that he wanted Charles returned to the United States.
Charles’ casket was exhumed and sent to the Leghorn Port Morgue on September 7, 1948. The casket was placed on the USAT Lawrence Victory on October 23rd and arrived in the New York Port of Entry on November 6th and taken to the Quartermaster Corps Distribution Center #1, New York City. By a military hearse his casket was taken to R. Stutzmann & Son Funeral Home in Queens Village, New York, before being buried in The Flushing Cemetery, Long Island, New York. His wife, Jeanne, never remarried. The headstone at the bottom of the page is on his wife’s grave in Hillside, Illinois.
