Charles Edmond Slayton was born on November 23, 1918 in Tennessee. He was the son of Edmond Bailey Slayton and Lenora Viola Jenkins Slayton. He served in the 327th Bomber Squadron, 92nd Bomber Group, Heavy as a Staff Sergeant and Waist Gunner of the B-17 #42-3048 "Sharon Belle" during World War II. His plane exploded near Astwell Castle on November 30, 1943 while aloft for a mission to Solingen, Germany that was scrubbed due to weather. All members of the crew were killed and the cause of explosion was never determined. SSGT Slayton is now buried in the same grave with SSGT Brannan, TSGT Glaspell, 1LT Munro, and Captain Pugh, in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA. He also has a cenotaph located in Tennessee Georgia Memorial Park, Rossville, Walker County, Georgia.
Crew members:
Captain Richard W. Pugh - co pilot
1st Lt. William M. Holland - pilot
F/O. Leighton D. Paterson - navigator
2nd Lt. William S. Munro - bombardier
T/Sgt. Thomas D. Glaspell - engineer
T/Sgt. Billy B. Freeman - radio operator
S/Sgt. Dean Landfear - waist gunner
S/Sgt. Charles E. Slayton - waist gunner
S/Sgt. Henry A. Scott - ball turret gunner
S/Sgt. Henry P. Brannan - tail gunner