Under the Radar

SUN CITY – Though many veterans might reminisce about their military memories, for Sun City resident Charlie Locker, it’s a different story.

WWII Veteran Charlie Locker worked as a radio operator throughout WWII. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)

Locker, who served in World War II as a marine, started as a wary warrior.

“I didn’t want to volunteer to go into the military. But in June 1943, I became 18 years old and had to register for the draft,” he said.

Luckily for Locker, a self-described “jack of all trades,” it was his set of skills that saved him. Right before his wartime departure, Locker trained with the Army Signal Corps, learning radar and radio repair.

“At the time I was drafted, the war was going full tilt, and they sent me to San Diego for boot camp,” he said. “When I finished there, they said, ‘We think you’d be a good person to go into the radio repair organization.’ I knew that radio and radar work would be better than going right into the front lines, and I knew just about all there was to know about it, I suppose.”

From there, Locker’s new position in the marines took him all over the map. He traveled to a radio repair research laboratory in Washington D.C., then to Guam, and eventually to Okinawa, where he became the radio operator. However, Locker still felt the fear of the front lines.

“Anybody who knows anything about the infantry knows that the first person they try to kill is the radio operator because they keep radio communication between the back echelons and the front,” he said.

Fortunately, Locker’s life was spared. He also experienced a brief reprieve when his division relocated to China three months later. During this time, he and his fellow marines had a glimpse of freedom.

“We got to play basketball and had competitions between our units and the units in other cities,” he said. “We also got to go to the Forbidden City while it was still forbidden to see. We had a pretty good time there.”

Even as the war was winding down, Locker’s relief was unmistakable upon returning to the United States after 33 months of service.

“They tried to see if I wanted to stay in, but I had seen enough. I had no desire to stay in the reserve,” he said.

From there, the veteran went on to obtain an accounting degree from the University of Kentucky, his home state, and pursued a 31-year career with State Farm Insurance. Now retired, he and his wife Sally still keep busy. In addition to participating in the Huntley American Legion, Locker and his wife spend time with their daughter and granddaughters.

“They keep us going,” he said.

Yet, regardless of the occasional American Legion meetings or marines’ dinner on Veteran’s Day, Locker’s thoughts don’t linger on his days of duty.

“I don’t have any real fond memories,” said Locker. “But I ended up not getting shot, and I got out. That’s my story.”

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