Charles Joseph Riggle

Charles Joseph Riggle age 94 died Tuesday, February 13, 2018. Charles graduated from Uhrichsville High School in 1942 and began college at Miami University in Oxford in the fall of 1942, along with his cousins Lewis and Dick Riggle. His college career ended with his freshman year with the draft. Charles served in the U.S. Army in World War II. He was drafted in July 1943 and had to take the train from Dennison to Columbus. At Columbus, all the draftees were placed on an old passenger car from World War I and they spent several days on this passenger car getting to South Carolina. The car was often shuttled onto railroad siding tracks to await a different train. He took basic training at Fort Bragg and was assigned an artillery position. After basic training he was sent to the European Theater, being stationed in Scotland, Wales, and England. By then he had been reassigned to lay communication wire. He participated in the D-Day invasion in June 1944. On the second day his unit went ashore on Dog Red Beach. Soon after he was reassigned to the Pacific Theater and was sent to Scotland to travel on the Queen Mary. His trip to the Pacific was held up for a week while they outfitted one of the cabins on board for Winston Churchill who was traveling to the United States. After arriving late into New Jersey, they only had 4 days to get to California. As this was impossible to do, the U.S. Army allowed the men several additional travel days. Charles took advantage of this and was able to stop at Stillwater and see his family. After getting to California, they were put on another ship. Most of the group were Army personnel with cramped quarters. Charles and a friend staked out an area under a life boat on the upper decks. His buddy always went for breakfast, but Charles never did. One day his buddy finally convinced him to go. During breakfast the ship was attacked by the Japanese and one of the planes crashed into the anti-aircraft gun that was positioned beside the lifeboat Charles and his buddy had been sleeping under. Another time he and two other guys were assigned to gather up the wire and telephone system that was used in the field as often it was left behind by the troops as they moved out. They were looking for where some of the troops had spent the previous night. They came to a spot where they split up, Charles going to check the valley and the other two guys the sides of the valley. When Charles reached the valley floor and approached where he thought the troop had camped he heard the roar of artillery shells. He immediately dove to the ground and luckily there was a trench from the night before. He could hear the shrapnel hitting the leaves of the trees in the area. When he returned to meet the other two guys, they were amazed to see him alive, as they had watched the artillery barrage. They never knew whether it was Japanese or American artillery fire. After his discharge in January 1946, he went to work at Republic Steel in Massillon as a crane operator. He worked there several years until 1952 when he moved to Columbus where he became an analytical chemist for the Battelle Corporation. He had a long and varied career at Battelle, including working on the process to decaffeinate Sanka. He remained at Battelle until his retirement. He married Joy Roush. She preceded him in death on Nov 30, 2000. Also preceded in death by parents, Blaine and Alma (Kinsey) Riggle, his sister and brother-in-law. Margaret (Earl) Deibel and one nephew Rick. Survived by two nephews and a niece, Alan, Les (Andrea) and Kathleen. Also survived by two grand nephews Alex and Curtis and two great-grand nephews, Luca and Jude and one great-grand niece, Scarlet. The family will receive friends during a memorial visitation at RUTHERFORD-CORBIN FUNERAL HOME, 515 High St., Worthington, OH on Wednesday, February 28, 2018 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Private family inurnment. To leave a condolence for the family please visit www.rutherfordfuneralhome.com

Charles Joseph Riggle

December 13, 1923 - February 13, 2018