We often forget that every single marker contained in a cemetery has an entire story attached to that person’s existence. But, for some, the full story will never be known because pages were missing from the very beginning.

In Saint Ann Cemetery in Cranston lies the grave marker of Charles Henry Gosselin who was born on Aug. 5, 1922. When he was almost two years old, on June 19, 1924, the probate court of Providence elected to commit him to the county orphanage where he was assigned to Cottage C. When he got a little older, he was relocated to the Rhode Island State Home & School on Smith Street in Providence, remaining in the custody of the State throughout the rest of his childhood.

At the age of 18, Charles left the State Home and enlisted in the Civil Conservation Corps. The government work relief program was part of President Roosevelt’s “New Deal”, providing employment for young men during the Great Depression. Charles was stationed at Camp G in Moffat County, Colorado where he worked as a kitchen cook. For his services that year, he was paid $340.

In Oct. of 1940, Charles enlisted in the United States Army. Standing 5’8 inches tall and weighing 152 pounds, he was assigned to the 633 Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Automatic Weapons Battalion, Battery C. He was honorably dis-charged on Oct. 31, 1945, after serving in World War II.

Charles then obtained a job at Browne & Sharpe, manufacturers of machine tools in Providence. He worked there for two years before becoming so ill he was forced to retire. Doctors diagnosed the 25-year-old with a brain tumor and it was decided that a frontal lobotomy would be performed in an effort to eradicate the problem.

The severing of the connections between the brain’s prefrontal cortex and the rest of the brain was an operation usually performed on those with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. By 1951, approximately 20,000 lobotomies had been performed in the United States. In some cases, patients were relieved of troubling mental health issues, while others adopted new problems or died as a result. In all cases, major changes to the patient’s personality were evidenced after surgery.

Charles was not undergoing the operation for mental health issues but to remove the pre-frontal lobe which contained the tumor. The surgery was known to cause patients to become listless, emotionally shallow and unmotivated. The procedure was performed on Charles in 1948.

Following the surgery, Charles began to experience psychosis – delusions, hallucinations, agitation and incoherent speech. As he had no family, he was residing with 39-year-old Justin Edward McCormick and his wife Anne on Arlington Street in Cranston. Justin was a welfare social worker, employed as a probation and parole officer at the State Home & School where Charles had spent the majority of his life. Anne was a clerk at the welfare office.

By July of 1950, the 28-year-old’s health had declined so severely that he was admitted to Rhode Island State Hospital. Twenty-six days later, on Aug. 14 at 10:50 in the morning, he passed away from his condition.

Charles’s death certificate states that his birthplace is unknown, his mother’s name is unknown and his father’s name is unknown. The word “unknown” scattered across the document of the brave young veteran denotes the sympathetic beginning of a life, followed by an even more sympathetic ending.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.