Charles Foster & The Black Experience

"Charles and I were in different battalions (he was in 2nd Battalion; I was in 3rd) and different majors (he was business administration; I was history) so the chances of our paths crossing were actually very slight.  But we did meet one time in the library stacks during our knob year where he approached me and asked for some help in locating a book.  Together we found it, he thanked me and then we went on our separate ways.  Unbeknownst to me, I was seen by my company squad sergeant whereupon I was told to "drive by" his room at 2230 that night for a "sweat party" simply for talking to Cadet Foster.  Living in our own separate worlds at The Citadel, Charles and I never talked again.  But looking back on this event, I knew Charlie Foster was both the bravest and the loneliest cadet in the Class of 1970."