Charles Paul Newman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in September 1918 to parents August and Caroline Newman. He was the couple's only son and had four sisters: Charlotte, Marie, Doris, and Florence.
Newman enlisted in the US Navy immediately after Japan's surprise military strike against Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941. He was outraged by the attack and wanted to do something to defend his country. Sadly, the 24 year old died two months later when the supply ship he was travelling on, the USS Pollux, ran aground in a ferocious winter storm off Newfoundland's south coast. Newman was a passenger on the vessel and was on his way to the USS Prairie in Argentia; he was one of 93 men who died in the shipwreck.
Newman's body was temporarily buried at a cemetery in Newfoundland before being exhumed by the US Navy and returned to Philadelphia seven years later. Charlotte Newman later named her daughter Charleen ("Cholly") in memory of her younger brother.
