Charles C. Carson, Sr. (August 19, 1925 – August 8, 2002) was a civilian
mortician for the
United States Air Force and the namesake of the
Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs. The street on which the mortuary resides is also named in his honor.
Personal
Carson was the son of Charles Carter and Alice Snow Carson in
Montgomery, Alabama. He attended
Alabama State High School and graduated from
Tennessee State University to enable him to achieve a lifelong ambition to steady the uneasiness of and provide comfort to individuals and families experiencing the pain and agony accompanying the loss of a loved one. Carson married the former Virginia Lewis, his hometown sweetheart, in 1950. They became parents of two sons and three daughters.
Work
Carson earned a license in mortuary science from
Atlanta College of Mortuary Science in 1950 and began his career that same year as a manager with Smith and Gaston Funeral Home of Montgomery, Alabama. He served in a similar capacity with Gaston offices in
Tuskegee and
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
.
A distinguished federal career as a civilian mortician began with the
Department of the Air Force in 1958. He was the deputy mortuary officer at
Tan Son Nhut Air Base,
Republic of Vietnam and
Clark Air Force Base in the
Philippines from 1964 to 1970.
During the early part of the
Vietnam War, he covered mortuary affairs in
Thailand,
Taiwan, and
Hong Kong. He also administered mortuary contracts in
New Guinea,
New Zealand and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Examples of his involvement in disasters in Southeast Asia are the naval disasters aboard the in 1966, the in 1967 and the Vietnam
Tet Offensive. Carson had supervised mortuary preparation of remains in every major disaster involving American military and civilian personnel since 1971.
He was assigned to
Dover Air Force Base August 1970 as a mortuary inspector and was promoted to Chief Port Mortuary Officer a year later. Carson applied his skills in a number of disasters, including the Tet Offensive in Vietnam and the
Jonestown cult mass suicide in
Guyana
Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
, Tenerife-Canary Islands at the request of the State Department; he served as technical advisor to the Wing and Group Commanders for mortuary affairs. He also supervised the processing of the remains of victims in the
NASA ''Challenger'' mission and
Desert Storm as well as the
air plane disaster that claimed the life of then Secretary of Commerce
Ron Brown.
He retired in 1996 and died August 8, 2002.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Charles C.
1925 births
People from Montgomery, Alabama
American funeral directors
United States Air Force civilians
2002 deaths
Tennessee State University alumni