He was the son of Dr. Charles Duncan Stafford and Mary Elizabeth 'Mabel' (Sellon) Stafford. He was the oldest of three children, with two younger sisters: Mary Marguerite and Jacqueline Maurice (Penny). He attended Kemmerer High School and Kemper Military College before enrolling in Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois. On 14 August 1940, he married Kathryn Louise Froscher. They had one child, Mildred Ann.
Stafford was the flight surgeon with the 7th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Squadron of the Army Air Corps. They were stationed at Djokjakarta Java in early February 1942, when 22 sailors from U.S. Navy cruisers Houston and Marblehead wounded in the Battle of Makassar Strait arrived. Stafford and local Dutch doctors worked late into the night to treat the sailors, most of whom had suffered severe burns. When the Japanese invaded Java on February 28, 1942, Stafford was instrumental in getting the sailors evacuated on the freighter Abbekerk.
On March 3 1942 he was aboard B-24A #40-2374, which took off from Broome airfield in Western Australia. There were a total of twenty men aboard, including the plane's crew, armorers and crew chiefs from the 17th Pursuit Squadron, Stafford and injured men under his care. They were being flown to Perth, having been evacuated from Java days before, just ahead of invading Japanese forces.
Minutes after the plane took off the base came under attack by Japanese fighters. The B-24 was shot down roughly ten miles from shore and only one man aboard made it ashore and survived.
Because his body was never recovered, he is listed on the Tablets of the Missing. He received the Silver Star and the Purple heart.
In 1944, the U.S. Army hospital ship Charles A Stafford was named in his honor.
Stafford was the flight surgeon with the 7th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Squadron of the Army Air Corps. They were stationed at Djokjakarta Java in early February 1942, when 22 sailors from U.S. Navy cruisers Houston and Marblehead wounded in the Battle of Makassar Strait arrived. Stafford and local Dutch doctors worked late into the night to treat the sailors, most of whom had suffered severe burns. When the Japanese invaded Java on February 28, 1942, Stafford was instrumental in getting the sailors evacuated on the freighter Abbekerk.
On March 3 1942 he was aboard B-24A #40-2374, which took off from Broome airfield in Western Australia. There were a total of twenty men aboard, including the plane's crew, armorers and crew chiefs from the 17th Pursuit Squadron, Stafford and injured men under his care. They were being flown to Perth, having been evacuated from Java days before, just ahead of invading Japanese forces.
Minutes after the plane took off the base came under attack by Japanese fighters. The B-24 was shot down roughly ten miles from shore and only one man aboard made it ashore and survived.
Because his body was never recovered, he is listed on the Tablets of the Missing. He received the Silver Star and the Purple heart.
In 1944, the U.S. Army hospital ship Charles A Stafford was named in his honor.
He was the son of Dr. Charles Duncan Stafford and Mary Elizabeth 'Mabel' (Sellon) Stafford. He was the oldest of three children, with two younger sisters: Mary Marguerite and Jacqueline Maurice (Penny). He attended Kemmerer High School and Kemper Military College before enrolling in Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois. On 14 August 1940, he married Kathryn Louise Froscher. They had one child, Mildred Ann.
Stafford was the flight surgeon with the 7th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Squadron of the Army Air Corps. They were stationed at Djokjakarta Java in early February 1942, when 22 sailors from U.S. Navy cruisers Houston and Marblehead wounded in the Battle of Makassar Strait arrived. Stafford and local Dutch doctors worked late into the night to treat the sailors, most of whom had suffered severe burns. When the Japanese invaded Java on February 28, 1942, Stafford was instrumental in getting the sailors evacuated on the freighter Abbekerk.
On March 3 1942 he was aboard B-24A #40-2374, which took off from Broome airfield in Western Australia. There were a total of twenty men aboard, including the plane's crew, armorers and crew chiefs from the 17th Pursuit Squadron, Stafford and injured men under his care. They were being flown to Perth, having been evacuated from Java days before, just ahead of invading Japanese forces.
Minutes after the plane took off the base came under attack by Japanese fighters. The B-24 was shot down roughly ten miles from shore and only one man aboard made it ashore and survived.
Because his body was never recovered, he is listed on the Tablets of the Missing. He received the Silver Star and the Purple heart.
In 1944, the U.S. Army hospital ship Charles A Stafford was named in his honor.
Stafford was the flight surgeon with the 7th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Squadron of the Army Air Corps. They were stationed at Djokjakarta Java in early February 1942, when 22 sailors from U.S. Navy cruisers Houston and Marblehead wounded in the Battle of Makassar Strait arrived. Stafford and local Dutch doctors worked late into the night to treat the sailors, most of whom had suffered severe burns. When the Japanese invaded Java on February 28, 1942, Stafford was instrumental in getting the sailors evacuated on the freighter Abbekerk.
On March 3 1942 he was aboard B-24A #40-2374, which took off from Broome airfield in Western Australia. There were a total of twenty men aboard, including the plane's crew, armorers and crew chiefs from the 17th Pursuit Squadron, Stafford and injured men under his care. They were being flown to Perth, having been evacuated from Java days before, just ahead of invading Japanese forces.
Minutes after the plane took off the base came under attack by Japanese fighters. The B-24 was shot down roughly ten miles from shore and only one man aboard made it ashore and survived.
Because his body was never recovered, he is listed on the Tablets of the Missing. He received the Silver Star and the Purple heart.
In 1944, the U.S. Army hospital ship Charles A Stafford was named in his honor.
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Wyoming.
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