Charles B. Tharp, 95, veteran of Korean and Vietnam wars
February 13, 2025
Charles Bonner Tharp of Pawleys Plantation, a retired Army colonel, died Feb. 5 at Georgetown Memorial Hospital surrounded by his family. He was 95.
Known as Sonny, he was born Sept. 8, 1929, in Macon, Ga., the eldest of two sons of Mary Ethel Tomlinson Tharp and Chonnie Bonner Tharp. He graduated from Lanier High School, where he was a leader in the Army Junior ROTC, a manager of the baseball team and a star for the varsity tennis team. He was also a lifeguard for the city parks system. He graduated from Mercer University in Macon in 1951. He was a member of the Army ROTC program, the tennis team and the Kappa Alpha fraternity.
He was designated a distinguished military graduate and commissioned as a second lieutenant, beginning a 27-year career in the Army.
Col. Tharp served in combat as an artillery officer with the Third Infantry Division during the Korean War from 1952 to 1953. He completed Airborne School and, at the age of 30, completed the Army Ranger course.
He served in various assignments across the U.S., Germany and Korea. He was appointed as the military aide to the undersecretary of the Army at the Pentagon.
From 1969 to 1970, he again served in combat as an artillery battalion commander and division staff officer with the First Infantry Division during the Vietnam War. Promoted to full colonel, he became a key staff officer at the Pentagon, where he played an integral role in implementing the transition to an all-volunteer Army.
He earned a master’s degree from Shippensburg State University in Pennsylvania in 1972.
After retiring from the Army in 1977, Col. Tharp worked as vice president of Hennage Creative Printers in Alexandria, Va., and later as a self-employed real estate appraiser in Northern Virginia.
He was married for nearly 73 to the late Marlyn Jo Vaughn.
Col. Tharp was a member of Duncan Memorial United Methodist Church. He volunteered for the county development board and worked as a federal census worker. He particularly enjoyed playing golf regularly until his mid-80s, and in 2002, he shot a hole-in-one from 155 yards at Pawleys Plantation.
He is survived by his sons, J. Gregory Tharp (Laura) of Pawleys Island and Marc Bonner Tharp of Fort Pierce, Fla.; his grandchildren, Jeff Tharp (Laura), Bryan Tharp (Anna-Marie), Kaelyn Tharp Warden (Daniel), Ashley Tharp and Courtney Tharp; his great-grandchildren, Fisher, Audrey, Emily and Sonny Tharp; his sisters-in-law, Janet Tharp and Jacquelyn McCants; and many nieces and nephews.
In addition to his wife, his youngest son, Tracy Tomlinson, died before him as did his younger brother, Thomas Eason Tharp.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Duncan Memorial United Methodist Church by the Rev. Dr. Dora Gafford. Burial with military honors will follow at Pennyroyal Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday at the Mayer-Ethridge Funeral Home Georgetown Chapel.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation at t2t.org or Duncan Memorial United Methodist Church at duncanumcsc.com.
There is a guest book at mayerfuneralhome.com.
