Clarification:

The following story on Charlie Combs, a POW during World War II, said He was captured in Guam and was just a half mile from where an atom bomb was dropped on Japan. The story should have said Combs was taken from Guam to Japan after being captured by Japanese forces.

Story:

Charlie Combs got a rough start on life, and much of his youth was a battle for survival.

According to his wife Yvonne Combs of Old Town, he was orphaned at age 2 and spent his formative years in one abusive foster home after another.

Eventually, tired of the treatment he suffered at the hands of his supposed caretakers, he ran away.  It was during the Great Depression, and he had to beg for food and slept in cardboard boxes until he was 13 years old.  But he survived.

In 1940, Combs joined the Marine Corps and was sent to Guam during World War II, his wife said.  He was captured when Japanese forces stormed the island, and he spent 45 months being beaten, tortured and starved.  

“He was just a half mile from where an atom bomb dropped,” his wife said.  

When he finally returned to the U.S. in 1945, he weighed 63 pounds and had to spend 12 months in the hospital. But he survived.

In 1947, he joined the Army and fought in Korea. In the mid 1960s, he went to work for the State Department as a military advisor in the Vietnam War.  When he retired in 1973, 33 years of conflict had failed to take his life.

 On Saturday, Nov. 7, Charlie Combs died of lung cancer at the nursing facility at the Gainesville Veterans Administration Hospital.  He was 88 years old.

“He never carried anything bitter inside of himself,” his wife of 41 years said.

She said it was his quiet and humble nature that caught her eye so many years ago.  Yvonne, who is half Vietnamese, met Combs when she became his secretary and translator during his years with the State Department.

She said he proposed to her Thanksgiving 1969 on an Army airplane.

“VC (Viet Cong) were down shooting at us,” she said.  “It’s a beautiful love story.”

The two moved to Old Town from Crystal River in 2003 because it was quiet and beautiful, she said.  

Combs was a member of the American Legion, the VFW and the First Baptist Church of Cross City.

He enjoyed bowling, fishing and he relished coffee.  Besides his wife, three granddaughters, Samantha Combs, Amanda Combs and Vanessa Combs, all of Ocala, survive him.

Rolling Thunder, an organization that endeavors to bring awareness of issues concerning POWs and MIAs, presented Combs with a POW medallion shortly before his death. Gov. Charlie Crist sent a certificate in recognition of his service and sacrifice.

A memorial service and 21-gun salute will take place Saturday, Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Cross City with the Rev. Mike Brown officiating.

Arrangements are under the care of the Rick Gooding Funeral Home in Cross City.