Humble Hero

Humble Hero reveals my father’s unusual life of survival. The story of Charles R. (Dinky) Joyner reveals his time as an orphan, street ruffian, lover, and unlikely war survivor and hero. He was the youngest of five children born to Lemuel Joyner and Annie Culpepper in the naval town of Portsmouth Virginia. His mother died when he was a toddler and his father suffered permanent brain injuries from a severe beating. Adopted by his maternal grandparents, the children were quickly dispatched to orphanages. Charles quickly learned the necessity of fighting other boys at Saint Vincent's and Saint Mary's. During these years, despite his small size, he grew into a scrappy fighter.

Returning to his grandparents’ home he and his brothers were housed in a drafty garage through his teenage years. Charles soon became involved in the mischief of local street gangs and quickly rose to a role of leadership. After several close encounters with crime and the police, his grandmother pulled him out of Saint Joseph's Academy in his second year of high school. Insisting he needed to make money to support the household. After several low paying jobs, his grandparents enrolled him in The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC's). After this rough and tumble experience and seventeen years old he returned to his garage home. By this time, he was convinced life was a "dog eat dog" world and he was now a man. Next, he landed a job at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and moved out of the garage.

Through his late teens and early twenties, he continued a life which included "easy" girls, liquor, and association with street thugs. His life turned when he met Catherine Lee Williams and faced military service. He was married in May of 1941 and within two weeks went off to the Army. In the military he was used as a light truck driver and was shipped to the Philippines in the Fall of 1941. Within weeks, the Japanese bombed his posts at Clark and Del Carmen airfields and quickly mounted an aggressive assault of the Islands. With others he was ordered to the Bataan Peninsula where he became a combatant. When American Forces surrendered, he among thousands of other Filipino and American "Battling Bastards of Bataan”, began the infamous nine-day Bataan Death March. During this grueling ordeal he witnessed incredible scenes of suffering and death and began to regain his Christianity. He was imprisoned less than two weeks at Camp O'Donnell before he and several buddies were chosen to be human pack animals. Their job was to haul huge boxes and bails of supplies to enemy outposts deep in the mountains and jungles of Luzon. After several grueling weeks he and three buddies boldly escaped this detail into the Philippine outback.

Charles and his comrades became guerrilla fighters until a betrayal caused his war buddy, Tom Pasquel, recapture by enemy forces. Alone, he wandered until he entered a barrio of headhunters who wanted to take his head. A lone villager, Mati...