Across the street from the King home was a Polish family. They had lost a son in World War I. His casket in the early 1920's was returned to their home pending burial in a Dallas cemetary. The Polish family without permission opened the casket to be certain the remains were their son. For several days, the entire neighborhood reeked from the foul odor. Foreman Street,like most of the streets in East Dallas was not paved. Black mud when it rained made passage by wagons almost impossible. At the end of the block was a German family, the wealthiest family on the block. They made in their home and sold in markets horse radish. However, after a rain they invariably became stuck in the mud and needed help of their neighbors to push their Model T out of mudholes.

All in the King residence were members of the Congregationalist Church, two blocks from Foreman Street. The pastor would regularly drop by for meals. These meals invariably consisted of fried okra, navy beans, soup, and sometimes a little hamhock. One day, the preacher quoted Scripture instead of the usual form of grace. After the meal, Birdie and Bessie immediately checked their Mother's Bible and found: "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever." Virgie King was bedridden most of each day. However, she kept her Bible with her and continually read from her Bible throughout the day. Harry Manes, Charles' father, taught a Sunday school class of five year olds in the Church. One day, one of the children asked Harry, "Is it alright to go to a ball game on Sunday?" After a momement of reflection, Harry said. "Yes." The Sunday School Superintendent immediately removed Harry as a teacher. Harry left the Church and did not return to another church until late in the 1960's. At no time did Charles ever hear profanity from either the King or Manes families. Charles' Grandfather Edmund Victor Manes would plow several acres once or twice a year. Charles would watch from the edge of the fields as he plowed. Charles' Grandmother Melinda would always stuff cotton in his ears, so that any communication between Edmund Victor and his horse still remins unknown.

Charles' Mother had a continual craving for the taste of watermelons. One evening Harry surprised the family by having a wagon of watermelons (possibly 100 in number) delivered to the King back porch. The Law of Diminishing Returns soon set in, and the neighbors on Foreman Street soon found themselves recipients of all the watermelons they desired.

On his ten acre tract in East Dallas, Charles' Grandfather Edmund Victor built a two bedroom house for the Harry Manes family. It even included a basement. The house was still standing and in good repair when Charles drove by in the early 1990's. Unfortunately, the area was plagued with robberies. First, a new Model T that Harry bought and had parked in his driveway was stolen late one night. The thieves moved by hand the car down a gentle slope to the railroad tracks. Because Edmund Victor Manes had built in a special lock in the steering wheel, the thieves could not steer the car. They awaken Harry and Edmund Victor by trying to chisel the lock off the steering wheel. Harry and Edmund with shotguns soon found the Model T, but the thieves had left. Harry had an exceptional tenor voice and Birdie was a fair pianist. They enjoyed singing and playing together often, especially the music from Eddy Arnold and Jeanette Mc Donald. One Christmas, Harry bought a new victoria with many records. They were under the Christmas tree. However, retuning home one evening with his family, Charles found that the new Victrola and all Christmas gifts had been stolen.

In 1928, Harry Manes was offered and accepted employment with the Root-Rhodes Oil Company in Eastland, Texas, at the unusually high salary for the depression era of $200 a month. His initial duties were clerical, but soon he became a landman for the Company. Eastland had some exciting events during this period. First, there was the replacement of the cornerstone of the old Court House. In 1897, in the cornerstone of the old Court House, Justice of the Peace Earnest Wood dropped a Bible and a Texas horned frog. On 8 February 1928, with the opening of this cornerstone, three thousand citizens witnessed the removal of "Old Rip," still alive after 31 years. He had apparantly survived on a few chewed pages of the Bible. On 19 January 1929, "Old Rip" died of pneumonia and was placed in a plastic casket in the new Court House. His remains can still be viewed today. Second, there was the Santa Claus incident. Cisco is located 10 miles from Eastland. A gang tried to rob the Cisco Bank. Two of their members were shot as they left the Bank. A third tried to drive away, but was killed by a citizen with a rifle. The remaining member of the gang was removed to the Countyseat jail in Eastland. A few days later, Harry Manes was in the local hardware store. He noticed several men buying a large strand of rope. He asked them the purpose. They replied: "You don't want to know." At dusk, that evening, the County Sheriff was told to leave the County. He did. Soon, the remaining Santa Claus gang member was hanged from the lampost adjacent to the larget hotel in Eastland. A car load of tourists had stopped at the filling station across the street from the hotel to buy gas. They asked the attendant what was happening. He said, "Oh, we're just hanging Santa Claus." The tourists left immediately without buying gas.

Charles never liked the name of Charles. When he learned that Chas. was an abbreviation for Charles, he began to always sign his name as Chas. V.

Chas. V.' best friends in Eastland were brothers. They were Wendell and General Seibert. Wendell later became a track star for the University of Texas. General in World War II became a Lt. and pilot. As he approached one of his first airbases in Texas, the controller asked for him to identify himself. He said, "I am Lt. General Seibert." When he landed, he found that all the dignitaries of the command were there to greet him. Thereafter, he only replied, "Lt. Seibert."

The Eastland band hall was across from the home of the Harry Manes family. Chas. first bought a bugle, retreated to the garage, closed the doors and practiced his notes. Soon, the Seibert brothers were playing in the local band and Chas. bought his first trumpet to join them.

When Chas. moved to Eastland, he had a white haired dog, part Eskimo, named Bubbles. This pet had been taught never to eat any food that was not fed personally to him by a member of the Manes family. One evening, someone drove through the eastern neighborhood of Eastland throwing out poisoned meat. Approximately 20 dogs died and Bubbles was the only survivor in the area.

In 1930, Harry Manes was offered a position as manager of the Root-Rhodes operations in the Owensboro, Kentucky, region. Later, the company was named Root-Dwyer-Manes. Most of the wells were shallow, but productive. Chas. joined the Third Baptist Church at this time and became active in the Boy Scouts. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout. When the Boy Scouts took over the city government for one day each year, Chas. was selected for Fire Chief the first year and mayor of Owensboro the next two years. In Junior High, the principal had been active in the military. He abolished the bells between classes and substituted bugle calls. Chas. V. was assigned the role of playing the appropriate bugle call between each class. Daily band practice in both Junior High and the first two years of High School increased the proficiency of Chas. V. on his trumpet. The band leader during the summer period would select about ten members to tour the country side promoting various productions at the high school. Chas. V. was always among the trumpets chosen. During his sophmore year, four trumpets from the high school entered a state-wide contest in Louisville, Kentucky. Chas. V. and three others won first prize playing "Finlandia." In 1932, oil dropped to ten cents a barrel and the Kentucky operations became unprofitable. Harry Manes stayed in Owensboro to shut down the oil activities, but Chas. V. with his Mother moved back to Dallas, Texas. The ROTC band leader promoted Chas. V. to the rank of Sergeant before he left Owensboro, and this rank helped Chas. in his new high school band assignments in Dallas. Out of twenty trumpets in the band, he was placed in chair number 6.

The Dallas High School band leader was "Colonel" Hertzog. The Colonel was a ROTC honorary rank, and his actual rank was warrant officer. He continually berated individual members of the band, calling them Mutton heads. The band members did not mind, because he was easily 80 years of age. Within a few weeks of transferring to Dallas' Woodrow Wilson High School, Chas. V. was approached by another member of the trumpet section, Jack Dunagon. Jack wanted Chas. to join a new orchestra in the first trumpet position. This dance band was just forming to play for high school dances and Southern Methodist University sorority and fraternity affairs. This was the Sunny Brock orchestra. After a few weeks of practicing stock arrangments, the Sunny Brock orchestra of 12 pieces was booked solid for the future. The orchestra especially enjoyed playing at the Chez Paris night club atop the Santa Fe building in Dallas. The band would play until one A. M., then walk across the street on Saturday evenings to the Adolphos Hotel. This Hotel each week featured nationally recognzed bands, such as Glenn Miller, Glen Gray, and Tommy Dorsey. The favorite of the Sunny Brock musicians was Phil Harris. The Adolphus Hotel always saved a table next to the famous band stands for the Sunny Brock members without charge. Although none of the bands asked members of the Sunny Brock orchestra to sit in their session, the listening experience was well worth the additional hour (until two A. M.) of hearing these nationl bands and watching their individual members perform.

During his Junior year in High School, Chas V., Jack Dunagon, and another trumpet player named "Turner" began practicing for a state competition in Waco, Texas. The selection was "Triplets of the Finest." This trio won first place.

During the summer of his Junior year, Chas. received a scholarship to the ROTC camp in Mineral Wells for being the camp bugler. After this camp, Chas. joined a Citizen Military Training unit at Camp Bullis near San Antonio. This was a federal government machine gun unit. The first time on line with the machine guns, the sergeant walked up and down the line, telling all that the bullets would come out only through the barrel. When firing started, the machine gun on Chas.' left had an explosion and the bullet went through the calf of the person behind the machine gun. Chas. was the youngest and smallest member of the machine gun squad. He was assigned the number one pivotal position in the squad which meant that he had to carry the heaviest of the equipment, the eighteen pound tripod. On long marches, this tripod would dig into his shoulders. The reason Chas. had the number one pivotal position was that only he knew the "squads right about" movements which he learned from ROTC.

Jack Dunagon was responsible for introducing Chas. V. to the Lester Harris School of Music in Dallas. Lester Harris granted a two year scholarship to Chas. that included studies in harmony, theory, composition, and directing. Several other members of the Sunny Brock orchestra had similar scholarhips. During the Centenial at the State Fair, the only nonunion band allowed to play at the Fair grounds was the Sunny Brock band.

A bizzare sequence of events happened to the Woodrow Wilson High School ROTC Band during Chas. senior year. A state-wide contest for marching bands was held one evening in Waco. When it became time for the Woodrow Wilson band to perform, they marched in military fashion on to the field. However, the trombone section (in the lead files) became confused and marched in disarray with other members following right behind. Colonel Hertzog became distraught, moving up and down the lines calling band members mutton heads. After several minutes of incongruous maneuvering the band stopped directly in front of the judges stand, silently standing in perfect array. Colonel Hertzog wanting to do something, so he asked Chas. and Jack Dunagan to march to the front of the band and play the Baylor theme song. This was not scheduled, unplanned, and unrehearsed. Chas. started slowly, quietly as a solo for three bars. Jack Dunagan entered as a duet, began to play in perfect harmony. Soon, individual members, then entire sections of the band began to take part. In the final eight bars, there was a definite, significant, and dramatic crescendo. The audience in the stands that had been perfectly silent when the Baylor theme song began erupted into a roar of approval. Colonal Hertzog had his band march off the field accompanied only by the cadence of his drummers, and wondering whether the band's performance was good or poor. He soon received an answer. The judges remarked that the maneuvering by the band was the most complicated that they had ever witnessed. The were especially impressed with the playing of the Baylor theme song, from solo to duet to the entire band. They felt the results were sensational and awarded the Woodrow Wilson ROTC band first place.

In 1936, upon graduation from Woodrow Wilson High School, Chas. had a major career decision to make. He could become a professional musician or enter a four year college program. The musical career was enticing, because Chas. learned that band members were earning $200 a month. The principal disadvantages were the constant one night stands and traveling almost continuously. Because Chas.' Grandfather Edmund Victor and his father both had been in the oil business, Chas. chose to major in Petroleum Economics at the Universiy of Texas in Austin, Texas. During his junior year at the University of Texas Chas. V. met Jean Dale on a blind date. They dated constantly. Upon graduation in June of 1940, Chas. had another career decision to make. He was offered the first trumpet position with the Layton Bailey orchestra. About the same time, he received a letter from the Texas Company in Fort Worth with a salary offer of $125 month. Chas. took the Texas Company offer, because at $125 a month he could marry Jean Dale and continue to live in Texas.

Jean and Chas. were married 14 December 1940 in Blanco, Texas. at five o'clock in the afternoon. While waiting for the ceremony, Chas. V. and three of his college friends played cards in the back bedroom of the Dale homestead. Mrs. Dale generously kept this group supplied with fried chicken. The question arose as to where to place the rising number of chicken bones. Jean's sister, Hazel Dale, had a visiting boy friend from Texas A&M. David Dewhurst, Sr., father of the present (2004) Lt/Governor, came up with the idea of depositing these chicken bones in the suitcase of the A&M visitor. When the A&M visitor left with his suitcase after the wedding, he would have been unpleasantly surprised to discover more than forty unwanted chicken bones. For some reason, Hazel Ball never heard from her friend again.

After several months' assignment by the Texas Company in Midland,Texas, Chas. was transferred to the Headquarters office in Fort Worth. Believing that war was inevitable, Chas. enrolled in the evenings in Production Management extension courses sponsored by Texas Tech University. This academic decision generated many rewards later. Chas. volunteered for the Air Force, was promoted to 2nd. Lt, and transferred to the Atlandtic Overseas Command headquarters in Newark,N. J. His initial duties involved management surveys, some of the first by the Air Force during World War II. After several months, Chas. was assigned as Assistant Control Officer of the Command and, shortly thereafter, as officer in charge of the Command's Control Room.

Soon after the surrender of Germany, Chas. was sent to the Command and General Staff School in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He graduated in the upper 25 per cent of his class. With the dropping of the atomic bombs, Japan quickly surrendered. The war was over and Chas. returned to the Atlantic Overseas Command. Jean's Mother and Dad recommended purchasing a county seat paper. They had published the Blanco County News for many years. Chas. took a few days leave and flew to Austin to meet with Mr. Dale. They drove to Anson, Texas, to look at the Western Observer, a Jones county newspaper about 30 miles north of Abilene. Financial arrangements took one day longer than expected, so Chas. called the pilot and told him to go on back to Newark without him. The pilot left in the late afternoon. As he made his final approach to Newark Airport, he hit the Empire State Building, killing all occupants of the plane.

The Western Observer was purchased. Jean took on all of the advertising responsibilities and Chas. assumed the editorial functions. In 1946, the Air Force recalled Chas. He was assigned to the Foreign Liquidation Commission of the State Department with headquarters in Manila, Philippines. Mrs, Dale returned from Blanco to help Jean operate the Western Observer. Before too long, they were able to sell the newspaper. In Manila, Chas. had lodging at Nichols Field about 25 miles from Manila. The morning after he arrived,he learned that the ambassador's pilot who was in the next compartment of the quanset hut had his pants stolen during the night. He lost not only his pants, but his wallet and passport. The morning after the second night, Chas. was awakened about six o'clock. The guard at the gate house, about 100 feet from Chas.' hut was hollering for help. A stray bullet had knocked out his telephone, and the guard needed backup until reinforcements arrived. Chas. arose from his cot and looked through the screen of the hut for three or four seconds. What he saw were five officers crawling on hands and knees in a drainage ditch toward the guard gate. They were armed only with 45 colts. Chas. almost immediately flopped back onto his cot. Then, in the area where he had been just peering outside, three bullet holes appeared in the screen. Chas. felt fortunate in not having gazed longer at what was happening outside.

Two other incidents were remembered by Chas. during his sojourn in the Philippines.The only time that Chas. could get through on the telephone lines to his wife Jean in Texas was about two in the morning. This required driving the 25 miles into Manila on essentially deserted highways to complete these calls. Chas. was granted permission to use B/General William Farthing's jeep for these trips to Manila. On his second call to Jean, he was driving about ten miles outside Manila. The highway was completely deserted. Then, a large truck pulled out of a side road and began to parallel Chas.' jeep. In addition to the truck driver, a passenger was holding a rifle (30/30) aimed directly at Chas. While in the Philippines Chas. carried a 45-Colt in his rear pocket. When the truck pulled along side his jeep, Chas. steered with his left hand and placed the 45-Colt in the crock of his left arm. For more than five miles there was a standoff, 30/30 versus the 45-Colt. Then, the truck suddenly stopped and drove off in the opposite direction. Chas. was aware that jeeps were desired equipment for bandits. Jeeps were sold at a premium to repair shops in Manila that could convert them into useable taxis overnight. This was the first instance in which Chas. could have lost General Farthing's jeep. The second was at a river crossing about 30 miles from Manila. Chas. pulled up to the river and was awaiting a ferry that was anchored on the other side. He noticed in his rear view window a large truck filled with eight Huks that had just stopped at a general store about 30 yards to his rear. Then, one of the Huks with a Thompson machine gun began to walk toward Chas.' jeep. Chas. immediately placed his 45-Colt in the glove compartment of the jeep and awaited the arrival of the armed guerrilla. The Huk sat on the hood of the jeep with his machine gun pointed at Chas. He asked Chas., "Americano?" Chas. replied in Spanish, "No, soy Texan," and put his cowboy boots up on the dashboard. The Huk smiled, but kept his gun pointed at Chas. Within five minutes, the Huks at the store had all the supplies they needed, the Huk on the jeep rejoined them, and they left the area in a hurry. The ferry returned and Chas. drove back to Nichols Field thankful again that his jeep was not stolen.

The return from the Philippines was on a slow boat that stopped at many of the Pacific islands. Chas. arrived home in Anson just before Christmas. A new career decision was made. Instead of continuing a journalism future, Jean and Chas. chose a teaching career. Chas. enrolled in a master's degree program in economics at Hardin Simmons University. For the next 18 months, he taught a full schedule as instructor of economics, took a 15 hours of course work on his degree, and worked 30 hours as continuity writer for radio station KRBC in Abilene. In addition, he had a daily radio program of 15 minutes called, "Business Briefs." Twice during his time at Hardin Simmons, Chas.' family was visited by his Great grandmother Louise Gipson Davis and his Grandmother Melinda. Grandmother Davis lived at that time in Guymon, Oklahoma, and Grandmother Melinda was from East Dallas. It was quite a journey for them at their ages, and they made the entire trip by bus.

Upon graduation from Hardin Simmons with a master's degree, Chas. was approached by Oklahoma Baptist University for an Assistant Professorship and head of the Division of Business. He accepted with a salary of $300 a month. The five years spent at this University were some of the most profitable for career purposes and enjoyable from quality of living. He was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. During these five years, he taught a full load of 15 hours per semester, became in addition the Director of Night school, and completed all course work required for a doctorate in economics from the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

Then, suddenly the Korean war became a priority. Chas. had retained his reserve commission in the Air Force with the rank of Major. Chas. was given only a few days notice before he was to report for duty. Fortunately, his initial, temporary assignment was with the Comptroller of Tinker Air Force Base about 30 miles from Oklahoma Baptist University. The problems of Chas.' classes at the University were resolved by moving these classes to the evening. The students met in Chas. and Jean's home. Jean served coffee and cookies every evening and the students enjoyed this very much. About the time the semester was over, Chas. was reassigned to Kelly Air Force Base for duty with the 75th Wing. Originally, the wing was scheduled to go to Bordeau, France. Later, the Wing was told they would be sailing together on one ship to Korea. This was the first instance of an entire wing moving on one transport. Jean and Chas. and their three childdren (Charles, Jr., Robert, and Ann) rented an apartment at Billy Mitchell Village adjacent to Kelly Air Force Base. Jean and the children remained in these apartments during the entire time Chas. was in Korea.

After a long, cold voyage, the wing docked off shore from Chinhae, Korea. A South African wing had occupied previously the base at Chinhae. They were so angry at being removed from the Chinhae base that they deliberately and routinely kicked out the sides of all the quanset living quarters as they relocated northward. The January weather was one of the coldest ever experienced by members of the 75th wing. However, the wing had access to plywood supplies and within one week all sides of the quanset huts had been repaired. The South African personnel still were not satisfied. They returned ten nights later and stole the chapel bell from the base church.

Chas.' first roommate was Major Thomas Pate. Within thee weeks after arriving at Chinhae, Pate was transferred to an Air Force base in Japan as their principal finance office. Pate had a committe of two other officers who were responsible for exchanging Military Pay Certificates for dollars and burning the worn out dollars. Major Pate would wait until late in the afternoon and tell his other committee members that he would just burn the dollars himself if they were too busy. Late one evening the military police found Pate with $65,000 in a shoe box as he walked out of his office. Pate had been removing dollars from his office and mailing them in stuffed toys to a neighbor of his in the United States. The exact total was never determined, but Pate had purchased two apartment buildings in the U. S. and other assets by the time his scheme was discovered. For his actions, Pate served seven years in Fort Leavenworth prision. Rev. Yak Sin Li? was head of a local orphanage in Chinhae. The orphanage housed about thirty war widows and their children. Rev. Li asked Chas. if there was anything he could do to help the orphanage survive. Near the orphanage was an empty textile factory. Rev. Li and Chas. believed this might be an answer to their needs. Chas. had prior contacts with the State Department personnel, so he arranged a meeting with State Department representatives and Rev. Li. After presenting in detail the benefits of having the textile factory operated by the widows of the orphanage, the State Department representatives came to one decision: "You only need a screw driver and not government funds." Disillusioned, Chas. started a campaign fund among members of the 75th Wing. Over $10,000 was raised in a very short time and the factory became a viable economic benefit not only to the orphanage but the area around Chinhae. Several local Korean politicians soon arrived with various schemes to siphon off funds for their benefit. Rev Li had a large sign printed and posted on the door of the orphanage. It read, "Orphanage of the Secret Police of President Syng-Man Rhee." The Chinhae politicians never approach Rev. Li again.

One Spring morning, Rev. Li asked Chas. if he could obtain about ten packets of seeds for planting. This would help in providing food for the orphanage. Chas.sent a letter to his aunt Mrs. Elizabeth Teasley in Dallas asking for seeds. Mrs. Teasley wrote a short article for the local papers, relaying the request for seeds. About three weeks later, Rev. Li dropped into Chas.' office and informed him that he had received through the mail more than 10,000 packets of seeds. This was far more than his Chinhae needs, and Rev. Li shared this bonanza with many other orphanages in South Korea. After Chas. returned to the U. S., Rev. Li was invited by Elizabeth Teasley to visit them in Dallas. Rev. Li accepted this offer and preached in several Dallas churches, telling of the plight of the orphans in Korea. His pleas were so well received that an entire ship of supplies was stocked and sent to the port of Pusan in South Korea. The ship had on board a Texas bull. As handlers were attempting to remove the bull from the ship, the bull jumped overboard and swam around in the Pusan waters until he was finally roped and dragged to shore. The distance from Pusan to Chinhae is about forty-five miles. Once again, local politicians along the route of the supplies from Pusan to Chinhae began to make demands for a share of the goods. Once again, Rev. Li asked for help from the President of Korea. His request was quickly answered and the local politicians soon learned the advantages of not interfering with activities of friends of President Rhee.

The Korean Air Force Academy was quite near to the base of the 75th Wing. The Superintendent of the Korean Academy (Lt. General Li) asked the 75th Wing commander if Chas. could teach an English class for Korean cadets in the evenings. The request was granted and Chas. taught a class of 75 Korean students English several nights a week. There were no texbooks available, so Chas. asked the 75th Base Chaplain for 75 New Testaments. These were provided in the King James version. So, if you hear any Koreans today speaking in King James English, you know where they learned their English.The Korean Superintendent was so pleased with the results that he asked Chas. to meet with his family once a week for conversational English. Being a Southern Baptist, Chas. did not consume any alcohol. However, on every visit to the home of the Superintendent, Chas. carried a present, a bottle of bourbon. The Superintendent and his family looked forward to every visit.

During the Korean War, someone in the United Nations arrived with a ridiculous idea: free all the North Korean prisoners in camps located in the South and let them wander around the country side. This proposal infuriated the South Koreans. Mass demonstrations began to take place just outside the 75th Base in Chinhae. The only defense the Air Force Base had were two strands of barbed wire around the base. During a visit with the Korean Academy's Superintendent, Chas. asked the Superintendent if it was possible that the South Koreans would attack the Air Base. After a moment of reflection, the Superintendent replied, "It is probably." With this message in mind, when Chas. returned to the base that evening an intense program for converting P-38 belly tanks into rafts was begun. The 75th was so isolated that the only help in time of military emergencies could require more than an hour and that source of help had to come from American forces in Japan. It was good news to members of the 75th when they heard that this United Nations proposal had been dropped.

In January of 1954, Chas. began his journey back to Texas. He flew to Los Angeles with the Flying Tigers and then by commercial plane to San Antonio and Mitchell Village. His new orders placed him in the Comptroller organization of Headquarters, Air Force, in the Pentagon. After his arrival at the Pentagon (18 May 1954), Chas. was formally awarded the Bronze Star Medal by Major General W. J. Asensio, Comptroller of the Air Force for "meritorous service in connection with military operations against an enemy."

Details on the formation of the new Air Force Academy became common knowledge at the Pentagon. With the civilian rank of associate professor and eight years teaching experience in economics at the university level, Chas. formally applied for the economics department at the Academy. Within a month, Chas. was called by Colonel Cook in the Air Force personnel Directorate. He gave Chas. two options. One he could wait one year, then be assigned as head of the economics department at the Academy, or he could transfer immediately to the Academy in a comptroller function and later transfer to the economics department. The decision was an easy one to make. Within three days, the Manes' family household items had been shipped to Denver, and Chas. with wife, three children, a German Shepherd dog, and canary were enroute to the U. S. Air Force Academy. Tempary quarters and offices (and later academic classrooms)were located at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver. Chas. was the fourth officer to arrive: First, the Superintendent Lt.General Harmon, then a Major in materiel, and third was the Athletic Director, Colonel Whitlow. As Chas. enterred the new offices for the first time, he was met at the door by Colonel Whitlow. He had an invoice in his hand for 42 pairs of cowboy boots. Although Chas. had in his hip pocket a voucher for $41 million to cover initial Academy expenses, he informed the Athletic Director that the cowboy boots would have to be paid from non-appropriated funds. The Colonel replied, "O.K.," and and never mentioned the subject again.

Every day was a day of new adventure at the Academy. Dignitaries, VIP's, politicians, and ranking military officers were eager to witness the growth of the Academy. In the early days, word was received that President Eisenhauer would be coming to the Academy. The Superintendent immediately asked that all officers buy new service uniforms and formal wear. The problem was that the Air Force had not decided officially upon a formal attire for its officers. So, in addition to new service uniforms, all officers purchased civilian formal clothing. Almost as soon as the President arrived in Denver, he experienced a heart attack. He never saw the new clothing of the Academy officers.

Mrs. Henry Arnold, widow of General of the Air Force (1949) and Chief of U.S. Air Forces in June of 1941, visited the Air Force Academy twice. During both visits, Chas. was her escort. The first visit was during the early construction period at the Colorado Spings site. A helicoper flew Chas. and Mrs. Arnold to the Colorado Springs site. The door of the helicopter was open for better viewing, but the two had their seat belts fastened. When Chas. pointed out Cathedral Rock as a landmark. Mrs. Arnold unexplicably unfastened her seat belt to stand and get a better look. At the same time, the pilot banked to give her unobstructed look at the landmark. She was thereby suspended in midair. Chas. grabbed her around the waist, just as the pilot leveled the heliocopter. The incident could have resulted in a national disaster, and Chas. made certain that their seat belts thereafter remained fastened.

On her second visit to the Academy, Mrs. Arnold was informed of a major reception being planned. At the head was the Secretary of the Air Force. He was followed by Lt.General Harmon, the Academy Superintendent, then three four star generals, and a slew of Lt. and Major generals. The Superintendant had issued specific orders that no officer from the Academy was to go down this reception line. Chas. told this to Mrs. Arnold as she started down the line. Her reply was, "Don't pay any attention to them, I knew them all when they were 2nd. Lt.s." Mrs. Arnold not only greeted each one in the line personally, but turned to Chas. and introduced him to each one. The Superintendant never mentioned this incident to Chas.

After about six months in the Comptroller office, Chas. became head of the Department of Economics. There were three major responsibilities. First, he was in charge of selecting other candidates as instructors for the Economics Department. Some were chosen directly, due to prior university teaching. Several were selected to go to graduate schools for additional course work or degrees prior to reporting to the Academy. A second function was developing a curriculum for teaching of economics. Third, Chas. had completed all his course work for a doctoratse in economics at the University of Oklahoma. A number of other officers had similar experiences of having their degrees interrupted by the Korean War. The Air Force for academic purposes desired that the faculty have as many doctorates as possible. Therefore, a specifically-designed doctoral prgram was worked out with the University of Denver, whereby 15 officers were enrolled in a special degree evening program. This degree program was in addition to all other duties of the officers. Of the 15 who started, 12 were eventually awarded their doctor degrees.

Chas. and his wife Jean felt that the evening of the first football game would be an appropriate time to have a party. They reserved the Officer's Club at Lowry Air Force Base. The party began. Fifteen minutes later, the aide to the Superintendant approached Chas. and asked if the Superintendent and some friends could come inside. What does a Major say to a Lt. General other than, "Yes, Sir?" A few minutes later, the aide again called Chas. aside and said that the Superintendant would like for him to join his party in the next room. When Chas. arrived at the Lt.General Harmon's table, he saw the Superintendant on one side of the table with a B/General. On the other side was an individual in civilian clothes who appeared to be in his late seventies. Chas. understood him during the introductions to be a Major. Next to him was a four star general, General Omar Bradley who was so successful in the ground operations of World War II. During his few minutes with this group, Chas. noticed that all members of the party were differential in their considerations and conversations with the "Major" Foulois.This was difficult for Chas. to understand, especially with a four star general present. Years later, Chas. was in the officer's club at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He noticed a plague on the wall of one room that was dedicated to Major General Benjamin Foulois, first Chief of Staff in the Army Air Corps and the first officer to fly an airplane in the Army.

After five years at the Air Force Academy and upon graduation of the first class of cadets, Chas. received orders to report to the Strategic Air Command in Madrid, Spain, as Chief of Finance for Spain and Morocco. At this time, the Stragetic Air Command had three bases in Spain and three in Morocco. During their first three months in Madrid, the Manes family lived in a residentia. Across the street was an apartment building. Several notables lived there. One was Xavier Cugat and his third wife Abbe Lane, the blond bombshill singer. Every morning at ten a.m., they would walk their puddle together around the block. This stopped all traffic. Another notable was Ava Gardner who lived on the second floor. Juan Peron, the fomer Argentina head of State (1946-55) moved into the apartment below. He could stand living under Ava only a few weeks. She was continually hanging out her window, hollering at passers-by. At all hours of day or night, she would practice her tap dancing. Chas. was approached by one of his accountants. He said he lived in a neighborhood called, "La Florida." The accountant asked for a few days off to move his family to another neighorhood. The Spanish Government ordered the accountant to move, because Peron liked his rented house and demanded that it be converted to his own residence.

Jean spent every day during the first three months in Madrid looking for a permant house. She found a three story house that had been converted into two apartments. It was only a few blocks from the residentia. Each of the children had a separate bedroom on the third floor. The Spanish maid lived in a basement room. During winter months, the furnace was stoked each morning by a workman who also kept the yard in the summer time. On the other side of the house was a famous Spanish actress and flamenco dancer. She never introduced herself. Chas. was frequently on tempary duty at other Strategic Air Force bases. Jean became interested in and active in the Protestant Women of the Chapel organization. She was made head of this organization one year and did extensive traveling throughout Europe and Morocco. Living was pleasant in Madrid. Francisco Franco was head of the Spanish State. Security was a major consideration. However, there was no concern over activities of the two teen age members of the family,Charles, Jr. and Robert. They were free to move about the city at all times. In the evenings, special guards patroled every block. As Jean and Chas. would arrive at their house, they would be told whether their boys were home or not. In driving around Madrid or to the Air Base about 20 miles outside of Madrid, it was prudent to always invite soldiers to ride with you. Especially welcome were the officers, because they carried submachine guns. During the three years Chas. and his family were in Spain, there was not one single incident to cause concern.

After three years in Madrid, orders arrived assigning Chas. again to the Pentagon. He worked initially with the Comptroller organization. The National Security Agency requested the Air Force assign Chas. for duty as Manpower Director. This was a position very much coveted by Chas., but the Air Force would not release him. About ten days later, the Secretary of Defense asked that Chas. be transferred to the Office of Secretary of Defense as an economist. Specifically, he was to be a member of the first Presidential Quadrennium Review of Military Compensation. The Air Force could not refuse and soon Chas. was working with 14 others on this Presidential Commission. To remove the Commission from the distractions of the Pentagon, new offices were located on the sixth floor of a building in Rosyln, a suburb of D. C. Personnel in the Commission soon noted a beehive of activity in an office (6th floor) on the other side of the street. One of the Navy Captains brought in a large telescope and aimed it toward their neighbors. With the telescope, details of their wall maps were easily read. It took only a few minutes before the personnel across he street closed tightly every window blind. Then, one of the members of the Commission sent his secretary at noon to the neighbors, teling the guard at their front door that she had come to tour the CIA offices. Alarmed, the guard immediately escorted her out of the building. Within twenty minutes, the Deputy Director of the CIA telephoned Mr. Thomas Morris, Deputy Secretary of Defense demanding to know how the Commission members knew that his personnel across the street were CIA. Mr. Morris told the CIA that every two hours a bus stops at their front door. The large sign on the bus read: "Langley.' Since the CIA was the only government agency in Langley, it did not take much deduction to assume their personnel belonged to the CIA. The only reply Mr. Morris received was, "Oh." Two days later, members of the Commission looked out their windows. What they saw was either bravery or foolhardiness. The CIA had placed a window washer on their ledge of about 25 inches wide and six floors up. This workman was cleaning the entire set of windows facing the Commission's building. He had a safety belt attached to each window as he cleaned. However, standing beside him (this was in the middle of the summer)was a man in a completely buttoned trench coat, dark sun glasses, a fedora hat with brim pulled down, smoking a cigarette dangling from his lips, and nonchalantly reading a magazine. He was without a safety belt. As the window washer moved along the building's ledge, the CIA operative followed closely. Six floors up with no safety belt made an impression upon members of the Commission, and they hassled the CIA no further.

In 1967, Chas. left the Office of Secretary of Defense and retired from the Air Force. With his family, we moved to Dallas, Texas, accepting a position with Dallas Baptist University as Chairman of the Division of Business. During his tenure at the University, he joined Dr. Edmund Lacy in promoting travel trips during the summers, Easter, and Christmas times. Most travel was to Europe, the Middle East, and Mediteranean Cruises. Travel arrangements were available to college and high school students, their teachers, and parents. On one occasion, the number of travelers numbered 603, two 747' plane loads. This was the largest student group ever to leave Dallas Airport. After ten years with Dallas Baptist University, Chas. left to join his son, Charles, Jr. in a management consulting firm. Typical contracts handled by this firm were General Electric, General Dynamics, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense.

In 1993, Jean and Chas. began looking for a retirement home. They finally chose New Braunfels. After ten years in New Braunfels, they began searching for a permanent retirement community. They checked Air Force Villages I & II, USAA Towers and the Army Residence Community (ARC) in San Antonio. They chose in 2003 the ARC and felt confident this constitutes their last move.

In December of 2003, the Texas Legislature telephoned Chas. They planned to honor his military service. They asked him to appear first before the House of Representatives where a two page commentary was read. The House voted unanymously to approve this commendation. Chas. V. was then escorted to the Senate Chambers and Lt. Governor David Deuhurst stopped all proceedings until the two page resume of military service was read. The Lt. Governor then stepped down from the platform and greeted Chas. After a few moments of conversation, Chas. surprised the Lt. Governor with a gift of an economics textbook that had been owned at the University of Texas by his father. Chas. had paid nine cents for this textbook and after taking it back to the dormitory, he discovered it has previously been owned by his best friend at the University David Deuhurst Sr, the Lt. Governor's father. David Sr. had sold this book to the University bookstore for six cents. This economics textbook was used by Chas. for twenty-five years in his economics classes as an example of inflation. Similar texts in 2003 would cost about one hundred dollars. Chas. then presented to the Lt. Governor a large photograph of Dewhurst Sr, Frank Ross Brown, and Chas. V. in formal attire at an University of Texas function. Dewhurst Sr., Brown, and Manes were "tres amigos" during their four years at the University of Texas. The Lt. Governor took this photograph and began showing it to a number of Senators on the floor. As Chas. was being escorted out of the Senate Chambers, an aide to the Lt. Governmor mentioned that she had never seen the Lt. Governor so moved as when he saw his father in the photograph. The last time that Chas. was with Dewhurst Sr. occurred at Chas. and Jean's wedding in Blanco, Texas, in December of 1940. When World War II started Chas. enterred the Army Air Corps at Sheppard Field, Texas, and Deuhurst Sr. became a pilot and war hero in the South Pacific. When Dewhurst Sr. returned to his home in Houston after the war, he soon was sideswipped one night in an automobile accident and died as a result of his injuries.