Charles A Gardner Jr.

Captain Charles A. Gardner Jr. was born in Columbus, Montana on August 22, 1922, graduated from high school in Broken Bow, Nebraska. In 1940 he enlisted in the naval reserve and in June 1941 received a Secretary of the Navy appointment to the US Naval Academy, graduating in June 1944 with the Class of 1945. After graduating, he attended Naval Supply Corps School in Harvard, MA where he met and married Gloria Thomas. He was then assigned to serve aboard the USS Remey (DD 688) seeing combat in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Captain Gardner also served in the Reserve Fleet, the Naval Ordinance Plant, and the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts. Additionally, he saw combat during the Korean War and served special tours on board the USS Albany (CA 123) and the battleship USS Wisconsin. He also served on the Presidential Yacht Williamsburg during President Truman’s last trip to Key West. Captain Gardner was the commissioning Supply Officer on two proto-type ships, the USS Norfolk (EDL 1) and the USS Mars (AFS 1). He taught in the NROTC Program at the University of California at Berkley. He also attended the Navy Management School and the Naval War College. He served in a number of positions while assigned to shore duty. His last sea duty was as the Assistant Chief of Staff, Commander of Service Group Three where he was again in a war zone, Vietnam. He received the Bronze Star and the Vietnam Honor Medal, Second Class. After retiring from the US Navy, Captain Gardner worked for TRW as an assistant project manager on the Under Sea Surveillance Project and he pursued his hobby of building scale model wooden ships of all sizes and some in bottles. He loved traveling to Europe with his wife and grandchildren. He is survived by Gloria, his wife of 67 years, and his three children, seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren. His Memorial Service will be a Grace Episcopal Church, Russell Road, Alexandria, VA on November 1, 2012 at 11 AM. His burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery on December 14th 2012 at 11 in the morning.