Charles M. Haines
Date of Birth: July 30, 1889
Place of Birth: Manhattan, Kansas
Father and Mother’s Names: Harvey F. Haines and Mary Ann (Meyer/Meyers) Haines
Spouse's Name: Juliana G. Davis (Divorced)
Date Entered Service: July 2, 1917 (WWI) from Fort Worth, TX and April 25, 1942 from Harford Co., MD.
Service Branch: Army
Service Number: 0-150645
Rank: Major
Division/Company/Unit info: Aberdeen Proving Ground, Ordinance Department, Harford County, Maryland.
Riley Connection: Attended Kansas State College in Manhattan and entered service at Fort Riley, Kansas.
Date of Death (and Age): November 5, 1943 (54 years old) DNB (Deceased Non-Battle).
Place of Death: Texarkana, Arkansas
Grave Location: Sunset Cemetery, Manhattan, KS.
Bio: Charles was born in Manhattan, Kansas to Harvey F. and Mary Ann (Meyers) Haines. He lived at 309 Nth Juliette Ave. Charles attended Manhattan High School. He was a good sized man standing 6' tall and weighing 208 Lbs as an adult. After High School he graduated from the Kansas State Agriculture College (now KSU) in 1909 and was a member of the Phi Sigma Thi Fraternity. Charles left Manhattan and was hired as a school teacher in 1910 at Albia, Iowa. Charles first entered the military in WWI when he was a teacher at Fort Worth High School in Fort Worth, Texas. He married his first wife, Juliana G. Davis, on July 16, 1917 in Wichita Falls, Texas just before WWI began. By January of 1918, Charles had been promoted to Lieutenant in the Army and was stationed at New Haven, Connecticut as Inspector of the machine guns at the Marlin/Rockwell Munitions Plant. Here he was instrumental in changing the design of the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) for use in WWI. This rifle was the weapon of choice for the infamous duo of Bonnie & Clyde. After his stint in Conneticut, he resigned from the Army and accepted a position in late 1919 with the Fiala Arms and Equipment Company of New Haven, Connecticut as a consulting engineer.
In 1920, Charles and first wife, Juliana, were making their home in Dallas, Texas. His occupation was a gun engineer. In 1930, Charles and Juliana were still in Dallas, Texas. and Charles was working as a District Sales Manager for LaSalle Extension University. From 1940-December 1941 Major Haines was the educational advisor for Camp Marshall. This was a CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camp in Marysville, Kansas. During this time Charles had divorced Juliana and married Kathleen Lyons. They were living in Ottawa, Kansas. He had trained in Omaha, Nebraska. to become a CCC Company Commander and was in charge of the camp in Ottawa. April 25, 1942 he entered the Army again and took a refresher course at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford Co., Maryland. The CCC was disbanded for the War effort. Major Haines was then stationed in Washington, D.C. at the Pentagon. He had just been transferred to Texarkana, Arkansas when he suffered a heart attack and passed away.
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