Charles John Gubbins was born October 24, 1924 in Oriskany, NY to Beeman Michael Gubbins (1891-1965) and Mary Elizabeth Spain (1895-1975). Both his parents were from the Utica area and they were married on September 29, 1919 in Whitesboro, NY. He had an older brother Bernard. During his childhood in Oriskany his dad had a few different jobs, a "core maker", a signal maintainer for the New York Central Railroad, a bus driver for the local schools and finally a custodian. His parents struggled to stay together, finally divorcing in 1944. The family lived on Main (Utica) Street in Oriskany, then moved to Maple St. By 1940 Charles was living back on Utica St. in Oriskany with his dad, his older brother and his grandmother. His mom had moved out by then. The Census for that year (1940) noted he completed only six years of school.

He registerd for the draft in December 1942 and was drafted into the service on March 23, 1943 in Utica, NY with service number 32854703. He was 18 years old, 5' – 8" tall and weighed 130 pounds with brown eyes and blond hair.

Most U.S. Army personnel records were destroyed when the Personnel Records Center in St. Louis burned in 1973. Pvt. Gubbins' records were likely lost in this fire. We do know that he was a combat infantryman and likely what was called an "individual replacement infantryman" given the date of his drafting. He likely atteneded basic training at a place like Camp Fannin in Tyler, Texas and then sent overseas to join the 34th Infantry Division.

The 34th Infantry Division, nicknamed the "Red Bull" consisted of three infantry regiments, the 133rd, the 135th and the regiment that Pvt. Gubbins was in, the 168th. Red Bull landed at Salerno, Italy during Operation Avalance in September 1943. The Division pushed north against determined enemy units in an attempt to break through what was known as the "Gustav Line". Embedded with the 168th Infantry at the time was the famous Pulitzer Prize winning writer Ernie Pyle. He wrote at the time,

"[the soldiers were] living in almost inconceivable misery. Thousands of men had not been dry for weeks. Other thousands lay at night in the highmountains with the temperature below freezing and the thin snow sifting over them. They dug into the stones and slept in little chasms and behind rockes and in half-caves. The lived like men of prehistoric times and a club would have become them more than a machine gun."

The 168th Regiment continued its attack on the Gustav Line through January 1944 capturing towns such as Cervaro and Mount Trocci as they went.  Sometime on February 11, 1944, during the capture of Mt. Castellone and St. Angello Hill Pvt. Gubbins is killed in action.   According to U.S. Army Hospital Admission records, Pvt. Gubbins was killed by an artillery shell during the attack on Monastery Hill on February 11, 1944. He was buried at: Plot A Row 3 Grave 26 Sicily-Rome American Cemetery Nettuno, Italy . He was just 19 years old and was awarded the Purple Heart posthumosly.

If you notice errors in this story or have additional information to provide please contact James Greenberg at nez13820@gmail.com. This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida 

Sources:

Boyer, Tom, Stories to be Told, Olympia, Washington, 2023, pg. 78-89.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56309564/charles-j-gubbins: accessed 9 October 2023), memorial page for Pvt Charles J Gubbins (May 1925–11 Feb 1944), Find a Grave Memorial ID 56309564, citing Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial, Nettuno, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio, Italy; Maintained by MAJ Jimmy Cotton (contributor 48803557).

Florida Department of Health. Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001. Jacksonville, FL, USA: Florida Department of Health.

Headstone Inscription and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942–1949. Microfilm Series A1 43, NAID: 7408555. Records of the American Battle Monuments Commission, 1918–ca. 1995. Record Group 117. The National Archives in Washington, D.C.

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 14

Rickard, J (3 September 2018), First battle of Cassino, 12 January-12 February 1944 , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_cassino_1st.html, accessed on Oct. 10, 2023.

US, WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954, Record Group 112: Records of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army), 1775 - 1994

Year: 1940; Census Place: Whitestown, Oneida, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02702; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 33-104

Year: 1930; Census Place: Oriskany, Oneida, New York; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0170; FHL microfilm: 2341357

Related Documents