A Mystery Without Past

In February 1945, an unconscious man with shrapnel damages and other bleeding sores around his body was recognized to Boston's U.S. Public Health Service Hospital. He had a two-inch wound on his right cheek and was losing the index finger on his left hand. The ambulance driver told the man's name was Charles Jamison but didn't know anything else about him. The tags on his clothes had been cut off, and he had several tattoos, including British and American flags, and one that said "U.S. Navy".

When he recovered consciousness, he was suffering from serious amnesia and could remember very few details about himself, though did seem to admit that his names were Charles Jamison. Strangely, no card of a Charles Jamison matching this man's description, who assisted in the Navy could be found. Photos of him were shared by missing person foundations and the case headlined in newspapers, yet no one came forward to recognize him. Adding another layer to the mystery, the ambulance and the driver that fell him off in the first place had seemingly disappeared and couldn't be found. It wasn't even clear where the ambulance came from as no dispatchers recorded sending it.

After Charles had been in the hospital for 8 years with no one any wiser as to who he was, a new medical director was employed, who made it his goal to solve this mystery. He arranged to get Charles to recall a few details, such as that he was from London, but they weren't able to confirm that.

Finally, a "Charles William Jamison" was found on a manifest from a Navy ship that had anchored in Boston just two days before Charles arrived at the hospital. The age (49) matched the age he thought he was at the time, and the document said he was born in Boston. However, the column on Charles had been handwritten in ink, which was different, assuming the rest of the document was typed up. None of the staff from the ship understood photos of him and didn't recognize him being there. No birth records were matching those details in Boston, so this evidence seemed to be a red herring.

There were a few more possible leads over the years, but nothing ever came of any of them. After living at the hospital for almost 30 years, Charles died, still not realizing who he was.