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PFC CHARLES UNDER BAGGAGE, JR

(Photo courtesy of Rickie D. Bickle)

Grave marker for Pfc Charles Under Baggage, Jr. in Section B, Site 3 of the Black Hills National Cemetery, Fort Meade, Sturgis, South Dakota.

Charles was a member of the Oglala Sioux Indian tribe.  He was raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.  His family's home was in the village of Potato Creek where he first went to the Medicine Bow Day School and later attended Pine Ridge Agency school during his high school years..

Charles enlisted in the U. S. Army on January 27, 1943 and went through basic training at Camp Davis, North Carolina before volunteering for parachutist duty.  He probably was assigned to the 508th at Camp Mackall, NC where the regiment was already engaged in advanced trading.

Charles went through all the major campaigns with the 508th in Europe and was wounded in Belgium on January 22, 1945 and was hospitalized under February 16th.  A month later he was the victim of an accident while participating in a demonstration jump over Reims, France.

Pfc Under Baggage was one of the seven men of the 508th who were killed in the tragic accident during the practice jump on 14 Mar 1945.