{"id":3814,"date":"2025-05-23T20:07:44","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T20:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/?p=3814"},"modified":"2025-05-23T23:56:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T23:56:43","slug":"stripling-charles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/stripling-charles\/","title":{"rendered":"Stripling, Charles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Charles Stripling (1927 – June 12, 1945)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steward\u2019s Mate Second Class USNR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Levi Berry and Michael Richardson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early Life<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles (Charlie) Stripling was born in early 1927 in Beards Creek, GA, to Willie and Isam Stripling.1<\/sup><\/a> Both his mother, Willie (1895), and his father, Isam (1900), grew up in Georgia.2<\/sup><\/a> Isam came from Odum, GA, where he lived with his parents, Janie and Abraham Stripling, both born in the mid-1880s. The census takers described Abraham as black, but Janie and their children as \u201cmulatto,\u201d a status classified as \u201ctragic\u201d in Jim Crow America.3<\/sup><\/a> Despite the family’s adversity, they prioritized the education of their five children and a niece, Blanche, who lived with them. According to the 1920 census, all attended school.4<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willie and Isam married in about 1925, staying in Beards Creek, GA where they had Charles, followed by three daughters, Jernita (1929), Dorothy (1933), and Irene (1937). Isam supported the family by working on \u201cgeneral farms,\u201d likely as a sharecropper.5<\/sup><\/a> Georgia agriculture was predicated mainly on producing \u201cKing Cotton\u201d at the turn of the century. In 1915, however, a pest known as the boll weevil spread into Georgia and began destroying most of the cotton crop throughout the state. Combined with outdated farming practices, it resulted in topsoil erosion by the 1920s. Georgia\u2019s production of almost 3,000,000 cotton bales in 1911 dropped to roughly 500,000 by 1923. The state never recovered to what it once was, producing just under two million bales in 2018.6<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the likely increased hardships, the family did not move to Florida until the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s, presumably to improve their economic conditions and provide their children with a better life. Willie and Isam participated in a lesser-known part of the Great Migration, moving south instead of north. The Great Migration, with the significant internal migration of Black Americans from the 1910s until the 1970s,  included approximately six million people who moved from the American South to other parts of the country to \u201cescape racial violence, pursue economic and educational opportunities, and obtain freedom from the oppression of Jim Crow.\u201d7<\/sup><\/a> The Stripling family settled in Fort Lauderdale, where they had their youngest child, Irene, born on 25 April 1937.8<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The Stripling family lived at 608 NW 6th Street in Lincoln Park, Fort Lauderdale, FL. They paid six dollars a month in rent: about $130 in 2023 dollars.9<\/sup><\/a> Fort Lauderdale, created as a fort during the Second Seminole War in 1838, became an incorporated city on March 27, 1911.10<\/sup><\/a> By 1944, Fort Lauderdale advertised itself as \u201cconservative and a \u2018class\u2019 community,\u201d and a likeness to \u201cthe most fragile Venetian Island city,\u201d with a population of 41,000. The city served as a training ground for servicemen, military industry, and the \u201cgreatest yacht highway\u201d in the world (during winter when the wealthy northerners visited to escape the cold).11<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The African American residents of Lincoln Park, where the Striplings lived, made only a fraction of the average salary of whites in the area.12<\/sup><\/a>  They also lived in inexpensive housing along the park, likely a result of the recently developed practice of redlining<\/em>, which allowed banks to perpetuate residential segregation even when New Deal policies may have allowed African Americans to receive federal aid, including mortgages, on the same footing as white citizens.13<\/sup><\/a> Nevertheless, the family believed in the opportunities associated with education. Charles attended Dillard High School, Fort Lauderdale\u2019s first African American school. Opening in 1907 and named initially Colored School Number Eleven<\/em>, Dillard High School sought to break the mentality that African American students would only have a career in agriculture.14<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1936, the police arrested Isam and two other African Americans for a series of robberies in \u201cthe colored section\u201d of town. While we do not know if he was ever charged or convicted of these crimes, or what may have motivated him if he did break the law. We do know his family faced challenging conditions during the financial crisis of the Depression and the deep-seated, institutional racism, including police brutality.15<\/sup><\/a> Despite the arrest, Isam sought other opportunities to help his family, learning to be an automobile mechanic at Halls Auto Parts, where, by 1940, he earned an annual salary of $332 working eighty-four hours a week (well under the average yearly income in 1940 of $1,368).16<\/sup><\/a> The family continued to stay close to their family in Georgia, as Isam indicated his father, Abraham, as a trusted contact on his draft registration card.17<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military Service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles entered the United States Naval Reserves at sixteen years old on October 18, 1943, in Miami.18<\/sup><\/a> During World War II, the military allowed people to enter at the age of sixteen with parental consent, so Charles likely did not need to lie to join the service.19<\/sup><\/a> While in the USNR, Charles achieved the rating and rank of Steward\u2019s Mate Second Class Petty Officer (STM2). A Steward’s Mate rating was nearly exclusive to African Americans and Filipinos and was the only job available to them on combat vessels. The primary job of a Steward’s Mate is serving food in the officers\u2019 wardroom, cleaning and organizing officers\u2019 living quarters, and assisting cooks in the galley, although they also trained as gunners in the event of a wartime emergency.20<\/sup><\/a> Despite Congress officially banning discrimination with Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry <\/em>(1941), <\/em>segregation remained firmly in place.[21]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, adamantly opposed black men in combat roles and said that the Navy would \u201cremain lily-white.\u201d22<\/sup><\/a> African American recruits faced racial slurs and violence from white soldiers and sailors despite every service member fighting for the same cause. According to one black Navy Veteran, white Recruit Division Commanders at boot camp during the 1940s told him, \u201cthere were \u2018only two kinds of n****s – a good n**** and a dead n****.\u2019\u201d23<\/sup><\/a> The Navy even hesitated to award African Americans war medals.24<\/sup><\/a> Senators also believed African Americans were cowardly and avoided fighting.25<\/sup><\/a> Despite all his obstacles, Charles still found the motivation to serve his nation in the Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Stripling<\/a>
Stripling on February 1944 Muster Roll<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Charles was assigned to a Landing Ship Tank, known as an LST.26<\/sup><\/a> He sailed on the USS LST-496<\/em>, stationed at Pier 92 in New York City on February 29, 1944. Charles was one of fifteen sailors serving as the USS LST-496 <\/em>ship’s company.  These sailors were responsible for routine shipboard operations while on deployment and maintenance when in port.   Pictured here is the February 1944 Muster Roll taken aboard the USS LST-496<\/em> featuring Stripling.27<\/sup><\/a> LSTs served as the work horses of amphibious landings carrying troops and land vehicles, capable of transporting roughly 2,100 tons of material and approximately 200 soldiers.28<\/sup><\/a> In 1938, American and British manufacturers developed and tested LSTs as vessels designed to land tanks onshore. These ships created anxiety for many military officials, so much so that many sailors joked that their initials stood for \u201cLarge Slow Target.\u201d29<\/sup><\/a> Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Company built the USS LST-496<\/em> in Evansville, IN, on August 24, 1943.30<\/sup><\/a> The ship sailed down the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico en route to Pier 92, New York City.31<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after Charles arrived, the 496 <\/em>left New York for Providence, RI, to take on its load of steel pontoons and smaller ships.32<\/sup><\/a> The ship\u2019s last North American stop was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to join the convoy en route to Southampton, England.33<\/sup><\/a> The 496<\/em> saw its first attack only one hour after departing from Halifax. As the convoy lost a food supply ship in the attack, the crew of the 496 <\/em>and others in the group had to travel the Atlantic Ocean on a diet of Spam.34<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To prepare for the incoming American forces, the British government had all citizens of South Hams around the Slapton Sands, a beach within Lyme Bay on the Bristol Channel in southern England, removed from their homes.  Locals did not appreciate their government ordering them to leave their homes for several reasons, including fears about losing the region\u2019s cultural heritage. Local protest did not sway the Allied leadership as the coastline resembled the beaches in Normandy where the Allies planned to land, and the Allies wanted their training to remain top secret.35<\/sup><\/a> The beach presented an ideal training scenario for the imminent operation for storming Normandy: \u201cI thought we were off the coast of France,\u201d said Joseph R. Sandor, a USN Petty Officer at the time.36<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 26, 1944, the 496<\/em> participated in its first mission, a series of exercises known as Exercise Tiger. A disastrous event, Edward Filo, a News Staff writer for The Stuart Daily News, refers to as \u201cone of the best-kept secrets of World War II and U.S. military history.\u201d37<\/sup><\/a> Exercise Tiger was intended to prepare the ships and personnel38<\/sup><\/a> for landing at designated beaches in Normandy as part of preparations for the massive amphibious assault. Military leaders planned to simulate the attack in and around Lyme Bay along the southern coast of England.39<\/sup><\/a> Under the high stakes and dangerous circumstances that Exercise Tiger provided, the US and Royal navies \u201cinsisted on radio silence during Exercise Tiger, except in cases of imminent danger,\u201d which would likely be too late for action.40<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Exercise Tiger\u2019s preparations ended, German ships and radar caught wind of the exercise. The German Luftwaffe sent planes over Lyme Bay for reconnaissance and saw much of the military stockpile that lay along the English coast.41<\/sup><\/a> Despite Allied personnel witnessing the horror on enemy vessels, they had no preparations for what came next. As Exercise Tiger commenced after 0130 in the morning, personnel caught sight of the green tracers that went with the bullets on German E-boats.42<\/sup><\/a> The radio silence made for a disastrous event, with ships firing in response to the Germans, engendering friendly fire. While the Germans immediately left the area, mass confusion reigned on the Allies’ side. The fully refueled vehicles onboard the damaged transports caused \u201cthe most spectacular fireworks.\u201d Army personnel onboard had not received training on abandoning flaming ships. Some service members were still wearing full packs when jumping overboard. Heavy steel helmets and improperly fastened lifebelts also hastened drowning.43<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 496<\/em> participated in the catastrophe when a German E-boat drove between the 496<\/em> and the USS LST-511<\/em>. A German E-boat, was \u201cwithout a doubt the most sinister, purpose-built killing machines,\u201d USN vessels moved at 12 or 13 knots; In comparison, the E-boat moved at  40 knots,44<\/sup><\/a> In the dark of night, the LSTs tried shooting back at the German target after the E-boat left, resulting in a friendly fire incident exacerbated by the communication blackout.45<\/sup><\/a> Joseph R Sandor, a torpedo survivor, shares his experience with a British news report published more than forty years later:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the aftermath of the training gone array, some tired personnel thought they saw masses of dark seaweed bobbing on the waves in the predawn darkness. When the sun came up, clearing away the mist\u2026(the) horrified (sailors) saw the dark shapes, hundreds of them, were actually the bodies of fellow American soldiers and sailors floating in the English Channel.46<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Germans sank or damaged multiple LSTs, and \u201cyou could actually see the boats turn into molten metal.\u201d[47]<\/sup><\/a> Most troops experienced their first combat night during a training exercise, a frightening prelude to the war. Over 1,000 men died in the Allies’ secret staging for the invasion operations, giving military leaders pause, with some arguing that the Allies should scrap the invasion.48<\/sup><\/a> Despite the disaster, Allied leaders decided to carry on with the massive amphibious landings in Normandy.49<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercise Tiger had been forgotten for thirty years, until 1974 when a fisherman, Ken Small, found an undamaged Sherman tank of the 70th Battalion sunk sixty yards off the beachline on the seafloor in Lyme Bay.50<\/sup><\/a>  <\/sup>In the immediate aftermath, the US military leadership kept the disaster a secret to preserve personnel morale. Although not kept secret after the war, official histories made little mention of the catastrophe. Following Small\u2019s discovery and attention from survivors following the fiftieth anniversary, the site\u2019s memorial, which includes the recovered Sherman tank, now sits on the plinth in Devon, England. It serves as a steadfast reminder of the sacrifices of brave men in uniform who participated in Operation Tiger.51<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though damaged, the 496,<\/em> seen below during preparations for the landings, joined the fight on D-Day as part of the Battle for Normandy. Steward\u2019s Mate Charles Stripling and the rest of his crew shuttled men and material across the channel to Omaha Beach beginning on June 6, 1944.52<\/sup><\/a> The men of the 496<\/em> braved treacherous waters, the looming threat of German E-boats, and the strafing from Luftwaffe planes above. And, despite efforts to remove sea mines, they faced invisible dangers underwater. After unloading the men and material they carried, Stripling and the crew of the 496 <\/em>returned to England to resupply and return to the battle.53<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The <\/sub><\/em>LST 496<\/sub> before and after its sinking<\/sub><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Five days later, the 496<\/em> returned to France again to bring more men and material on June 11, 1944. This time, it struck a sea mine, killing Charles Stripling and most of the ship\u2019s crew.54<\/sup><\/a> Pictured here are photos of the 496<\/em> during wartime preparations and after its sinking.55<\/sup><\/a> Aboard the nearby USS<\/em> LST-502<\/em>, Leon Schafer remembered the LSTs returning to England and making their second trip to Omaha Beach. Schafer recalled watching the explosion of the 496<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

It was a pretty day. We approached close to the beach, I happened to be out on the wings of the ship. I was not on duty yet, I think I was just wanting to see what was going on, and the LST-496 was to our starboard and it was also going in, and it hit a sea mine, a 750-pound sea mine. Now those particular sea mines were set after so many ticks of the ships that went over it, that it would explode on the next one. And the explosion, I saw daylight under this LST, the way it detonated. The detonation was so great, I didn\u2019t believe what I was looking at. She was loaded with tanks that had already been unshackled, prepared to hit the beach, and Army personnel, and immediately we stopped and sent our small boats over to see what they could do. Canadian Corvettes pulled up along the sides and tied lines to her to keep her from capsizing and we brought casualties over. The way the detonation was so great, some people were thrown up against the overhead and some of our men came back and said they stuck to the ceiling\u2026It was one of our stories never told, the ship, the 496, until many years later.56<\/sup><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The sea mine hit towards the ship’s front end, near the officer\u2019s quarters, where Steward\u2019s Mates like Charles worked. The War Department declared Stripling missing after the 496<\/em> sank but waited to declare him deceased, following protocol, until one year and one day later, on June 12, 1945.57<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LSTs played a critical role in the success of D-Day and in the logistical support that Normandy provided to the Allied troops in France and Germany. Soldiers and sailors like Charles Stripling brought inspiration to Allied forces all over the globe as they took part in the largest seaborne invasion in human history.58<\/sup><\/a> Petty Officer Charles Stripling and the 496<\/em> provided the necessary support to capture Omaha Beach.59<\/sup><\/a> Charles Stripling\u2019s name appeared in the Fort Lauderdale News<\/em> on August 31, 1944,  indicating he was among the local men serving in the armed forces who had been reported as missing. We know that the Stripling family believed their son was alive but missing for many months after his death, as they included him as serving in the Navy on the 1945 Florida census.60<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Charles, his siblings attended Dillard High School, even though Charles never had the opportunity to finish his education.61<\/sup><\/a> His sister, Jernita, went on to work as a runner for a mechanic, likely working with her father.62<\/sup><\/a> At some point after the war, Charles\u2019 father, Isam Stripling, may have been moved by the loss of his son to seek solace in his faith. Isam became a reverend at St. Phillips CME Church in Fort Myers, FL.63<\/sup><\/a> Charles\u2019 parents, Willie and Isam, spent their later years in Fort Myers, passing away in 1993 and 1990, respectively.64<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 496<\/em> received one battle star for its service on D-Day.65<\/sup><\/a>  <\/strong>An extraordinary feat for anyone, Charles Stripling earned and was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart.66<\/sup><\/a> The Navy never recovered Steward\u2019s Mate Second Class Charles Stripling\u2019s body.  He is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France.67<\/sup><\/a> Although the Allied Forces sacrificed many lives and resources, the D-Day operations in Normandy were successful, leading to the liberation of France. Without Charles and others like him, the overall Allied victory and the war\u2019s conclusion would not have been possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

1<\/a> <\/sup>\u201c1930 U.S. Census,\u201d database, Ancestry.com<\/em> (www.ancestry.com: accessed November 14, 2023), entry for Charles Stripling, Beards Creek, Georgia. In some documents, Charles has the nickname \u201cCharlie,\u201d and in some cases Isam is spelled as \u201cIsson\u201d or other misspellings. The latter seems to be an error as most other records spell his name as \u201cIsam,\u201d including documents he wrote on himself. We are using the spelling he used. The Federal Census record includes an estimated date of birth. Given Charles\u2019 age of three and a half on the 1930 census, taken in April, we estimate that Charles was born in January 1927. Various reasons may exist for these inconsistencies such as home births and federal disenfranchisement of poor families in rural Southern States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2<\/a> <\/sup>\u201c1930 U.S. Census,\u201d entry for Charles Stripling; We found no record containing Willie\u2019s exact birthday, based on census records we estimate between 1895-1898; \u201cU.S. WWII Draft Registration Card,\u201d database, Ancestry.com <\/em>(www.ancestry.com: accessed November 14, 2023), entry for Isam Stripling, 1451.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3<\/a> <\/sup>\u201c1910 U.S. Census,\u201d database, Ancestry.com <\/em>(www.ancestry.com: accessed November 14, 2023), entry for Isam Stripling, Odum district, Georgia; \u201cThe Tragic Mulatto Myth,\u201d Jim Crow Museum<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu\/mulatto\/homepage.htm<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4<\/a> <\/sup>\u201c1920 U.S. Census,\u201d database, Ancestry.com<\/em> (www.ancestry.com: accessed November 14, 2023), entry for Charles Stripling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5<\/a> <\/sup>\u201c1930 U.S. Census,\u201d entry for Charles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6<\/a> <\/sup>William P. Flatt, \u201cAgriculture in Georgia,\u201d New Georgia Encyclopedia<\/em>, accessed December 5, 2023, https:\/\/www.georgiaencyclopedia.org\/articles\/business-economy\/agriculture-in-georgia-overview\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cAfrican American Heritage,\u201d National Archives<\/em>, accessed December 5, 2023, https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/research\/african-americans\/migrations\/great-migration<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cIrene Benson Grave,\u201d https:\/\/www.findagrave.com\/memorial\/18067977\/irene_s-benson<\/a>; \u201c1940 U.S. Census,\u201d database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed November 14, 2023), entry for Willie and Isam Stripling, Lincoln Park, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cFort Lauderdale City Directory, June 1944,\u201d database, Ancestry.com<\/em> (ancestry.com: accessed November 14, 2023), entry for Charles Stripling, 412; \u201cHow Much is $1 in 1940 Worth Today? Inflation Calculator,\u201d Carbon Collective<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/tools.carboncollective.co\/inflation\/us\/1940\/1\/<\/a>. ; \u201c1940 U.S. Census,\u201d entry for \u201cWillie and Isam.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cAbout Fort Lauderdale,\u201d City of Fort Lauderdale Florida<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.fortlauderdale.gov\/government\/about-fort-lauderdale#:~:text=Incorporated%20on%20March%2027%2C%201911ten%20largest%20cities%20in%20Florida<\/a>; \u201cThe Seminole Wars,\u201d Seminole Nation Museum<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/seminolenationmuseum.org\/history-seminole-nation-the-seminole-wars\/<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

11<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cFort Lauderdale City Directory, June 1944,\u201d entry for Charles Stripling, 10, 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cRedline: Historical Bus Tour, Legacy Unveiled: Journey Through Miami\u2019s Hidden History, 2025,\u201d accessed April 30, 2025, https:\/\/southfloridapoc.org\/redlining\/#:~:text=Redlining%2C%20a%20discriminatory%20practice%20dating,communities%20of%20Miami%20and%20Broward<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cMapMaker: Redlining in the United States,\u201d National Geographic<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/education.nationalgeographic.org\/resource\/mapmaker-redlining-united-states\/<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

14<\/sup><\/a> \u201cStripling Missing,\u201d The Fort Lauderdale (Florida) Daily News<\/em>, August 31, 1944, 2; \u201cYouths Entertained,\u201d Fort Lauderdale Daily News<\/em>, June 1950, 16. On the history of Stripling\u2019s school, see Destinee A. Hughes, “A Historic Look at Dillard High School,” Venice Magazine \u2013 Fort Lauderdale’s Magazine, last modified September 6, 2015, https:\/\/venicemagftl.com\/in-retrospect-lucky-number-eleven\/<\/a> and \u201cOld Dillard Museum,\u201d Broward County Public Schools<\/em>, accessed November 14, 202,  https:\/\/www.browardschools.com\/Page\/35769<\/a>. For more details about the African American educational network established in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries see the interactive map featuring 259 schools founded for education of African Americans, Michael Richardson, Mapping Reconstruction<\/em>, accessed May 22, 2025, https:\/\/arcg.is\/1P0DWW<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15<\/a> <\/sup>\u201c3 Negroes Held For House Thefts,\u201d Fort Lauderdale News<\/em>, June 22, 1936, 2. https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/230164444<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cWWII Draft Registration Card,\u201dentry for Isam Stripling; \u201c1940 U.S. Census,\u201d database, , entry for Willie and Isam Stripling,; Diane Petro, \u201cBrother, Can You Spare a Dime? The 1940 Census: Employment and Income,\u201d National Archives<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/publications\/prologue\/2012\/spring\/1940.html#:~:text=The%2016th%20decennial%20census%20of,5.2%20percent%20in%20the%201920s<\/a> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17<\/sup><\/a> \u201cWWII Draft Registration Card,\u201d entry for Isam Stripling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

18<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cUSN Muster Roll,\u201d database, fold3.com<\/em> (accessed November 14, 2023), entry for Charles Stripling. 44 February, 1944.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

19<\/a> <\/sup>Gilbert King, \u201cThe Boy Who Became a World War II Veteran at 13 Years Old,\u201d Smithsonian Magazine<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023. .https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/the-boy-who-became-a-world-war-ii-veteran-at-13-years-old-168104583<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

20<\/a> <\/sup>Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum. \u201cSteward\u2019s Scrapbook: Photographs of Thomas Edwin Murray.\u201d Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum<\/em>. Accessed May 22, 2025. https:\/\/www.patriotspoint.org\/artifacts-archives\/stewards-scrapbook-photographs-thomas-edwin-murray<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21<\/a> <\/sup>“Executive Order 8802: Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry (1941),” National Archives<\/em>, last modified February 8, 2022, https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/milestone-documents\/executive-order-8802<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

22<\/a> <\/sup>Joseph Conklin LaNier II, \u201cMy War on Two Fronts,\u201d American Legion<\/em>, accessed December 5, 2023, https:\/\/www.legion.org\/magazine\/94871\/my-war-two-fronts<\/a>;  President Harry S. Truman, Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces<\/em>, July 26, 1948, National Archives (.gov).  Segregation in the armed forces continued until after the war, when on July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order<\/em> 9981: Ending Segregation in the Armed Forces.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

23<\/sup><\/a> LaNier, \u201cJoseph LaNier Interview,\u201d; the offensive language in this sentence is an exact quote from someone who had been a victim to it; Recruit Division Commanders are the navy equivalent to the army\u2019s Drill Sergeants; for more information on Recruit Division Commanders, visit https:\/\/www.bootcamp.navy.mil\/Subs-and-Squadrons\/#:~:text=RDCs%20are%20Chief%20Petty%20Officers,endeavor%20to%20be%20taken%20lightly<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

24<\/a> <\/sup>Wills, \u201cRemembering Doris Miller.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

25<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cAfrican American Press, December 1944,\u201d database, ProQuest History Vault<\/em> (hv.proquest.com accessed November 14, 2023), 264, https:\/\/www.proquest.com\/archival-materials\/african-american-press-december-1944\/docview\/2903842563\/se-2?accountid=10003<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

26<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cUS LST Association,\u201d https:\/\/uslst.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

27<\/a> <\/sup>Charles<\/em> Stripling on February 1944 Muster Roll. <\/em>https:\/\/www.fold3.com\/sub-image\/281765197\/stripling-charles-us-world-war-ii-navy-muster-rolls-1938-1949<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

28<\/a> <\/sup>Paula Ussery, June 16, 2008, “LST in WWII,” www.army.mil\/Army Heritage Museum, last modified June 16, 2008, https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/10067\/lst_in_wwii#:~:text=The%20LST%20was%20specifically%20designed,tons%20and%20approximately%20200%20soldiers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

29<\/sup><\/a> Nigel Lewis, Channel Firing<\/em>, (Penguin Group, 1989), 32; Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. IV<\/em> (United States Navy, 1969),  667; Lewis, Channel Firing<\/em>, 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

30<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cLST-496,\u201d Naval History and Heritage Command<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.history.navy.mil\/research\/histories\/ship-histories\/danfs\/l\/lst-496.html<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

31<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cHeinz History Center: Dravo Leads the \u201cCornfield Navy\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

32<\/a> <\/sup>Lewis, Channel Firing<\/em>, 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

33<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cUSS LST-496,\u201d NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive<\/em>, accessed on November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.navsource.org\/archives\/10\/16\/160496.htm<\/a>;  \u201cFrank Derby Story – LST 496,\u201d Exercise Tiger Memorial<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/exercisetigermemorial.co.uk\/frank-derby-story-lst-496#:~:text=LST%20496%20sank%20in%2018,the%20rest%20of%20the%20war<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

34<\/a> <\/sup>Lewis, Channel Firing<\/em>, 41.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

35<\/a> <\/sup>Lewis, Channel Firing<\/em>, 9-41.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

36<\/a> <\/sup>Edward Filo, \u201cOperation Tiger Remembered,\u201d The Stuart News<\/em>, December 7, 1987, A3. https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/885881507\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

37<\/a> <\/sup>Filo, \u201cOperation Tiger Remembered,\u201d A1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

38<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cD-Day Landing Designations,\u201d https:\/\/www.history.navy.mil\/browse-by-topic\/wars-conflicts-and-operations\/world-war-ii\/1944\/overlord\/operation-neptune.html<\/a>. Each D-Day beach landing site is designated with Particular naming conventions such as \u201cUtah Beach,\u201d or \u201cOmaha Beach.\u201dDesignations such as \u201cForce O\u201d stood for \u201cOmaha Beach\u201d directing crews of the various LSTs on where to land troops or materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

39<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cExercise Tiger: Disaster at Slapton Sands, 28 April 1944,\u201d Naval History and Heritage Command<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.history.navy.mil\/browse-by-topic\/wars-conflicts-and-operations\/world-war-ii\/1944\/exercise-tiger.html<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

40<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cExercise Tiger: Disaster at Slapton Sands, 28 April 1944.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

41<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cExercise Tiger: Disaster at Slapton Sands, 28 April 1944,\u201d Additional reconnaissance over the English Channel was ordered under Hitler\u2019s Directive No. 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

42<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cExercise Tiger: Disaster at Slapton Sands, 28 April 1944.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

43<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cExercise Tiger: Disaster at Slapton Sands, 28 April 1944.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

44<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cLast of its kind, deadly Nazi E-boat rises again: Seized by the British,\u201d https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/id\/wbna30977019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

45<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cUSS LST-496,\u201d NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive<\/em>, photos, accessed on November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.navsource.org\/archives\/10\/16\/160496.htm; Edward Filo, \u201cOperation Tiger Remembered,\u201d The Stuart News<\/em>, December 7, 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

46<\/a> <\/sup>Filo, \u201cOperation Tiger Remembered,\u201d A3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

47<\/a> <\/sup>Filo, \u201cOperation Tiger Remembered,\u201d A3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

48<\/a> <\/sup>Filo, \u201cOperation Tiger Remembered\u201d A3.add the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

49<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cExercise Tiger: Disaster at Slapton Sands, 28 April 1944.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

50<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cExercise Tiger Memorial,\u201d Atlas Obscura<\/em>, accessed November 16, 2023, https:\/\/www.atlasobscura.com\/places\/exercise-tiger-memorial<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

51<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cExcercise Tiger Blackout Details,\u201dAtlas Obscura<\/em>,  https:\/\/www.atlasobscura.com\/places\/exercise-tiger-memorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

52<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cFrank Derby Story – LST 496,\u201d Exercise Tiger Memorial<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/exercisetigermemorial.co.uk\/frank-derby-story-lst-496#:~:text=LST%20496%20sank%20in%2018,the%20rest%20of%20the%20war<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

53<\/a> <\/sup>Leon Schafer, \u201cLeon Schafer Interview,\u201d The Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum<\/em>, accessed February 10, 2023, https:\/\/www.ww2online.org\/view\/leon-schafer#uss-lst-496-hits-a-mine<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

54<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cLST-496,\u201d Naval History and Heritage Command<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.history.navy.mil\/research\/histories\/ship-histories\/danfs\/l\/lst-496.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n

55<\/a> <\/sup>NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo: Auxiliaries and AmphibiousArchive<\/em>, https:\/\/www.navsource.org\/archives\/10\/16\/1016050613.jpg<\/a>.  and https:\/\/www.navsource.org\/archives\/10\/16\/1016049601.jpg<\/a>. Our thanks to  Gary Priolo, Navsource,Project General Manager for allowing us to publish these photos here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

56<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cLeon Schafer Interview.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

57<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cStripling Missing,\u201d Fort Lauderdale News<\/em>, August 31, 1944, 2; \u201cCharles Stripling,\u201d American Battle Monuments Commission<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.abmc.gov\/print\/certificate\/460542<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

58<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cD-Day (June 6, 1944),\u201d Library of Congress<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/collections\/veterans-history-project-collection\/serving-our-voices\/world-war-ii\/d-day-june-6-1944\/#:~:text=June%206th%2C%201944%3A%20More%20than,only%20to%20December%207th%2C%201941<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

59<\/a> <\/sup>Jesse Greenspan, \u201cLanding at Normandy: The 5 Beaches of D-Day,\u201d The History Channel<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.history.com\/articles\/landing-at-normandy-the-5-beaches-of-d-day<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

60<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cFlorida State Population Census, 1945,\u201d database, Ancestry.com<\/em> (ancestry.com: accessed November 14, 2023), entry for Charles Stripling, Broward County; \u201c1950 U.S. Census,\u201d database, Ancestry.com<\/em> (ancestry.com: accessed November 14, 2023), entry for Willie Stripling, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

61<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cYouths Entertained,\u201d Fort Lauderdale News<\/em>, June 21, 1950, 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

62<\/a> <\/sup>\u201c1950 U.S. Census,\u201d database, Ancestry.com<\/em> (ancestry.com: accessed November 14, 2023), entry for Willie Stripling, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

63<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cRev. I. G. Stripling,\u201dNews-Press<\/em>, September 26, 1993; \u201cStripling, Mrs. Willie Clifton,\u201d News-Press<\/em>, January 25, 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

64<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cRev. I. G. Stripling,\u201d 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

65<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cUSS LST-496,\u201d NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive<\/em>, photos, accessed on November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.navsource.org\/archives\/10\/16\/160496.htm<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

66<\/sup><\/a> \u201cCharles Stripling,\u201d Purple Heart Hall of Honor<\/em>, accessed April 21, 2023, https:\/\/www.thepurpleheart.com\/roll-of-honor\/profile\/default?rID=5b7cb527-e530-4307-8f23-13b4968b435c; For an example of an African American Normandy Veteran denied his Purple Heart until the end of his life, see this news article: https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/06\/23\/us\/ozzie-fletcher-ww2-vet-purple-heart-trnd\/index.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

67<\/a> <\/sup>\u201cStripling Missing,\u201d Fort Lauderdale News<\/em>, August 31, 1944, 2; \u201cCharles Stripling,\u201d American Battle Monuments Commission<\/em>, accessed November 14, 2023, https:\/\/www.abmc.gov\/print\/certificate\/460542<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charles Stripling (1927 – June 12, 1945) Steward\u2019s Mate Second Class USNR by Levi Berry and Michael Richardson Early Life Charles (Charlie) Stripling was born in early 1927 in Beards Creek, GA, to Willie and Isam Stripling.1 Both his mother, Willie (1895), and his father, Isam (1900), grew up in Georgia.2 Isam came from Odum,…","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":3813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-narrow.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[225,19],"tags":[555,14],"veteran_name":[556],"veteran_rank":[557],"biography_author":[560,559],"army_branch":[558],"unit":[],"division":[],"award":[348],"hometown":[561],"cemetery":[563],"class_list":["post-3814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-normandy-american-cemetery","category-world_war_2","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-purple-heart","veteran_name-charles-stripling","veteran_rank-stewards-mate-second-class","biography_author-levi-berry","biography_author-michael-richardson","army_branch-navy","award-purple-heart","hometown-fort-lauderdale","cemetery-normandy"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3814"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3838,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3814\/revisions\/3838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"veteran_name","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/veteran_name?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"veteran_rank","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/veteran_rank?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"biography_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/biography_author?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"army_branch","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/army_branch?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"unit","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/unit?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"division","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/division?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"award","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/award?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"hometown","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hometown?post=3814"},{"taxonomy":"cemetery","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.cah.ucf.edu\/fl-francesoldierstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cemetery?post=3814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}