Charles Stratton was born on September 6, 1902, in Boston, Massachusetts. He enlisted underage in the U.S. Navy at the end of World War I on December 16, 1918, and then went through training at Naval Training Station Newport, Rhode Island. Stratton transferred to the hospital ship USS Mercy (ID-1305) in February 1919, and made several trips to France to bring casualties back to the U.S. before it was discovered he had enlisted underage and was discharged on January 13, 1920. During World War II, he enlisted in the Massachusetts State Guard, where he served as 1st Sergeant of Troop C, 2nd Motor Squadron, at the State Armory in Quincy, Massachusetts, from March 8, 1944, until the unit was disbanded on December 11, 1946. In civilian life, Charles worked as a salesman with the Slattery Brothers Leather Company in Boston, Massachusetts. He married the former Mary Loretta Hoar (1903-1989) of Somerville, Massachusetts, on September 14, 1927, and they were married until his death on February 17, 1975. Charles and Mary had three children together-Charles Arthur Stratton, Jr. (1930-1988), CAPT Richard Allen Stratton, USN (born in 1931), and Ellen Elizabeth Todd-Cooper (born in 1937).