Private Charlie Banks was born in Georgia in 1898. He quit school at the age of 12 years of age in the fourth grade. He worked as a delivery person. According to a physicians report, Private Banks suffered from apoplexy and his sister died of tuberculosis. His father had been an alcoholic. Private Banks enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 1918. Private Banks was originally sentenced to death. His sentence was later reduced to 28 years. Private Bank’s sentence was remitted in 1934.