Our History: Featured Alumni/ae: Hagan, Charles T., Jr., 1936

Major General, United States Marine Corps Reserves

Charles Hagan was born in Greensboro, North Carolina on April 20, 1913. He attended Greensboro Senior High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and received his law degree from the University of Virginia. He was licensed as an attorney in 1936, and commissioned as a reserve officer in the Marine Corps after completion of the very first platoon leaders class ever conducted. He returned to Greensboro to practice law. He loved to sail, and as a 24-year-old, he organized a Sea Scout Ship, the Davey Jones, to teach sailing and leadership to Boy Scouts who otherwise did not have access to boats and boating. The Davey Jones was recognized as the National Flagship of Sea Scouting for three years in a row, and the base from which they operated on High Rock Lake has been named the Charles T. Hagan Jr. Sea Scout Base in honor of the leadership he provided for Sea Scouting.

He was called to active duty in February 1941 and served in Belim, Brazil. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the 4th Marine Division and served with that Division at Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. During World War II, he received the Bronze Star with Combat V awarded for heroic achievement at Tinian, a Letter of Commendation, a Presidential Unit Citation with bronze star, and numerous campaign medals. Following World War II, he remained active in the USMC Reserves, eventually reaching the rank of Major General. While a member of the Reserve Forces Policy Board, he served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. When he retired in 1973, he was the highest ranking USMC Reserve officer in the country.

Following World War II, he returned to Greensboro to practice law. He served as Solicitor (now District Attorney) for Guilford and Davidson Counties, and the State of North Carolina employed him several years later to prosecute high-profile white collar crimes. In 1955 he founded the firm which became Adams Kleemeier Hagan Hannah & Fouts. He was a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and served as president of the Greensboro Bar Association. His commitment to truth and justice, and his contributions to the Greensboro Bar, resulted in the Greensboro Bar Association’s recognizing him in 1995 with its Distinguished Service Award. He died October 16, 2009.