Charles Dohun (12 September 1912-17 January 1994) was a Sergeant in the US Army during World War II. He notably saved the life of Captain LeGrand Johnson during Operation Market Garden by forcing a doctor to examine him at gunpoint.
Biography[]
Charles Dohun was a Staff Sergeant in the US Army and commanding officer of Company F, US 502nd Infantry Regiment, US 101st Airborne Division, and he served as a runner, driver, and aide to Captain LeGrand "Legs" Johnson during World War II. In September 1944, they took part in Operation Market Garden, and Johnson made the gruff Dohun guarantee that he would not let him be killed. During the fighting near Best in the Netherlands, Dohun was informed that Johnson had been killed, but he asked the soldier where he was, and he put the body in his jeep. Dohun hid from a panzer in the woods, and he sped off in his jeep under enemy fire when some more Wehrmacht troops arrived. Dohun arrived at a field hospital and gave Johnson's body over to a doctor, who said that Johnson was dead, and told Dohun to put his body in the "dead pile". Dohun proceeded to close the tent drapes and point a gun at the doctor, threatening to shoot him in the head if he did not give Johnson a look. The doctor found that Johnson was still breathing, and Dohun turned over his pistol to the doctor, telling him that he was ready to be turned in. The doctor, realizing Dohun's heroism, had a military policeman arrest him for just ten seconds, having the MP quickly count from one to ten. Dohun was then "released", and he left in his jeep after saluting the doctor (he did so rather than answer the doctor's question of if he really had killed him). He died in 1994, and he was buried in a cemetery in his home state of North Carolina.