A 100-year-old World War II veteran who witnessed one of the most iconic moments in U.S. history was honored Tuesday at Disneyland Park.
Charles Cram, a Los Angeles native, served as a Navy pharmacist’s mate — now known as a corpsman — providing lifesaving care to Marines during World War II. He was among those who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima, where he witnessed the iconic flag raising atop Mount Suribachi.
Cram recalled the moment the war reached home, describing how he first learned of the conflict as he left church with his family.
“We heard something over the radio … so I knew what was going on at the time,” Cram said to the Washington Examiner.
Cram’s experience in World War II
Just a teenager then, Cram said his path into service began with small acts of duty on the home front before ultimately heading to the Pacific theater. Once there, he said it was difficult to single out any one defining moment from combat.
“It’s hard to pick any particular thing,” he said.
Despite earning the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart, Cram downplayed his heroism. “I didn’t really feel much that I deserved them,” he said to the Washington Examiner. “It came as quite a surprise to me to be awarded those medals.”
That mindset carried through even during one of the most historic moments of the war, the Battle of Iwo Jima. The iconic flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi came after U.S. forces secured the summit during the Battle of Iwo Jima, replacing an earlier, smaller flag raised that same morning.
The image became one of the most famous of World War II — later inspiring the Marine Corps War Memorial.
Cram said he had no sense of the flag-raising’s future significance as he watched it being raised over Iwo Jima.
“I didn’t realize that we were going to make a monument … I just went along with what was going on,” he said to the Washington Examiner.
Now, more than 80 years later, Cram was recognized in front of park guests during Disneyland’s Flag Retreat ceremony — an honor rarely given to an individual. Seventeen of his family members joined him to witness the moment.
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“It’s new to me,” Cram said. “I did not realize there was going to be some sort of a special day.”
A Disneyland tradition
Disneyland honors veterans daily at the Flag Retreat ceremony, where service members from all military branches are recognized. Ceremonies such as the Flag Retreat are designed to honor that legacy, but singling out an individual veteran at Disneyland is rare, making Cram’s recognition especially meaningful.
His son, Michael Cram, said his father rarely spoke about the war for decades.
Over time, that changed. “It makes you feel so proud and in awe,” Michael said. “I don’t think a lot of people these days … get to hear these stories anymore.”
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Michael emphasized that the recognition at Disneyland is part of a remarkable chapter in Cram’s life, which has included recent trips to Iwo Jima and Normandy, as well as national recognition for his service.
“We made a wish list for our dad of things we were hoping to do, since he’s getting on to an older age now,” Michael said to the Washington Examiner.
“The wish list that we came up with couldn’t even begin to touch the things that he’s done the last year and a half in his life, with going to Normandy, and with going to Iwo Jima, and with getting to go to the 250th celebration of the Marines, and get to have JD Vance talk about him, and to meet Hegseth over in Guam and to get to go to opening day with Ohtani at Dodger Stadium. I mean, just all of those things are just incredible.”
“To see the joy and the happiness that my dad has gotten to have [in] the last couple years of his life … you can’t even begin to put him into words,” he said.
As part of the ceremony, Donald Duck — a character with ties to the military dating back to World War II — will appear alongside Cram, highlighting the park’s long-standing connection to service members.
“Celebrating our father’s 100th birthday at Disneyland is a once-in-a-lifetime gift for our family,” Candace Audick, Cram’s daughter, said to the Washington Examiner.
“As a proud member of the Greatest Generation, a decorated war hero, and the heart of our family, he’s our rock star,” Audick said. “To see him here — surrounded by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, with that same twinkle in his eye from when we visited as kids over 65 years ago — is simply priceless. This moment, filled with love, legacy, and joy, is one we will cherish forever.”
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For Cram, however, the experience remains grounded in duty rather than recognition — a perspective shaped on the battlefield decades ago and unchanged by time.
“I was just doing what I was supposed to be doing,” he said.