charles thomas payne (february 20, 1925 – august 1, 2014) was an american military personal. he served in the u.s. military during world war ii as a member of the u.s. army's 89th infantry division. payne was in the infantry that freed many holocaust survivors from ohrdruf, a sub-camp of the buchenwald concentration camp. payne was the great-uncle of president barack obama.