Dec. 30, 1935 – Aug. 4, 2012
Retired Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Charles Edward Mittelstadt Jr., of Jacksonville, N.C., who risked his life to protect fleeing government officials while stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti in 1963, died Saturday in Tampa, Fla., after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 76.
A native of Gasport, he enlisted in the Air National Guard in 1953 after graduating from Barker Central High School. In 1955, he enlisted in the Marines and served for 30 years, attaining the highest rank for a noncommissioned officer.
Sgt. Mittelstadt served on numerous overseas tours, stationed in Beirut, Lebanon; Okinawa, Japan; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where he assisted Haitian officials trying to escape the country following a plot to overthrow murderous dictator Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier.
He received numerous military awards, including the Good Conduct Medal with nine stars.
After retiring from the Marines in 1985, he earned a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in education from East Carolina University and taught high school history for 15 years in Jacksonville, N.C. He also coached football and advised the shooting team.
He was a certified dive master, a master gunsmith and locksmith and an avid collector of coins and historic firearms.
His wife, the former Betty Ann Hunt, died in 2005.
Survivors include two sons, Richard and Tom; two daughters, Patricia Jarman and Kathryn Salter; and two sisters, Barbara Brady and Carol Drum.
A military service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in Amigone Funeral Home, 1132 Delaware Ave., followed by a graveside service in Forest Lawn.