Charles Madison Teeling served in both World War I and World War II.

He said he was born Aug. 9, 1899 in Brooklyn, New York, to Mary Ingraham Teeling, a homemaker, and William Teeling, a printer. Charles was about 14 when his father died in Albany, New York.

Charles and his brother Albert Jarvis Teeling enlisted in the Navy on April 6, 1917 — the day the United States entered World War I.

A photo and brief article in an Albany newspaper said Charles’ enlistment did not surprise friends because he “was always a most patriotic young man.”

It is questionable whether Charles was old enough to serve. His enlistment record does not include his actual date of birth, but it says he was 17 years and 8 months old.  Albert’s enlistment record says he was 17 years and 1 month old. How were they born seven months apart?

Albert said he was born March 10, 1900, and that mirrors his age in the 1905, 1910, 1915 and 1920 Census. If Charles was born in August, then his age in those Census records never matches a birth year of 1899. One matches a birth year of 1900 and the other three to 1901. If he fibbed about his age, he was hardly alone. Young teens were driven to enlist by patriotism and the need for work.

Charles was due to be discharged in 1919, but he likely served right up until Dec. 7, 1941, when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was a printer and chief petty officer on the U.S.S. Arizona.

There’s a gap in Navy records between his service in World War I and a paper dated July 12, 1928, which said he was already aboard the U.S.S. Texas when he re-enlisted on that date. It was common for an enlistment to expire one day and for the man to re-enlist on the same ship the very next day. Albany city directories from 1918 all the way through 1923 said he was in the Navy. After that his name doesn’t appear.

On Dec. 5, 1933, he married Edith B. Bink in Los Angeles.

Brother Albert also served in World War II. A third brother, Robert, was in the Navy from November 1942 through April 1945, according to the Veterans Administration.

Sources: the Albany (New York) Argus; the Albany (NY) Evening Journal; application for military headstone or marker; Albany, NY, burial card; California marriage record; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster rolls. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.