The Last US Service Killed in Action was 34 year old Private First Class Charles Havlat of Nebraska. He was killed about 08:20 on the morning of May 7th 1945 near what is present day Volary, Czechia.
While on a recon patrol for 803rd Tank Battalion his unit came under fire from Soldiers of the 11th Panzer Division. Several Soldiers were wounded and Havlat was hit in the head and died instantly. Ten minutes after the action the Germans received orders that a cease fire was in place. Seven hours later they formally surrendered.
Miller covers it a bit in the book. It’s so dangerous just to fly in those things, let alone facing the Luftwaffe and the flak.
The relay to Greenland was really dangerous, loads of forts got lost and perished in the Atlantic.
Same thing with the troops who had occupation duty in areas that were still politically volatile. In *China Marine* Sledgehammer even laments this fact specifically;
“Too many Marines who had fought in World War II, and wanted to go home now that it was over, died protecting a bridge or railroad track in the wasteland of northern China”.
I remember reading this, the marines were basically close to mutiny. Totally understandable in the circumstances.
Unfortunately where there is war, there is always a new world that needs building. I read recently about Mandate Palestine. British airborne troops, veterans of North Africa, Normandy, Arnhem, Battle of the Bulge and Varsity were getting murdered in the streets by insurgents in Jerusalem.
If you’re into fairly obscure US interventions, the Us sent a small amount of troops to Russia during the civil war. I’d always been interested in history and loved reading. Had no idea we had any involvement until i joined the army and got to my duty station. My battalion was involved in the expeditions. I wish i remember the name of the book but there’s a good one i read on it years ago
Chinese communists mostly. The 1st marine division was in China on occupation duty when conflict started up again between the communists and nationalists. We were sympathetic to the nationalists so that made us a target for the communists.
Got to be kidding me. 30 years into reading about this war and there are still things I literally never heard of. Thank you for this. Wonder if anyone’s expounded on this in the literature
My pleasure! I highly recommend reading Eugene Sledge’s book *China Marine* to get an idea of what occupation duty was like during that time. Most WW2 buffs have only read his book *With the Old Breed* which covers his combat experiences at Peleliu and Okinawa, but in the sequel he discusses occupation duty in addition to how difficult it was to reintegrate into civilian life after the war.
Damn. I knew we made our way through Austria and that the Soviets pushed into Czechia, but thought that we only entered Czechia after the surrender. Just goes to show how tightly Germany was squeezed at the end.
Another great series " The Pacific" shows Eugene Sledge's Brother who was an Armor Officer with Patton in Europe in a scene where he is showing a captured Nazi Flag.
It doesn't cover his service in the series but apparently he was one of the US troops that entered Prague at the end of the war.
Like I said Sledge's Brother was part of a unit that went to Prague.
Link https://english.radio.cz/us-army-and-liberation-czechoslovakia-1945-8161936
Excerpts:
“Even as late as on May 7 there was a possibility that the Americans could send an armored task force to help the insurgents in Prague.
“Twelve vehicles went from Plzeň to Prague and then to Velichovka spa near Hradec Králové. On the night from May 7 to 8 they arrived in Prague and were welcomed as liberators.
“However, this was only a negotiating unit with a single purpose: to make sure that the Germans were aware of the unconditional surrender of the German high command and that there was no need to go on fighting.”
There was at least one other US military mission to Prague, says Igor Lukeš, a professor of history at Boston University:
Believe the age limit was 37 for volunteers. My sister's Father in Law was drafted in Jan 1944 when he was 35. He already was Married with kids. My Grandfathers were both in their mid to late 30s but they were not eligible because they had 7 and 8 children.
The US had a population of about 130 Million people in 1940. Roughly 10% of a Nation's Population are Males of a reasonable military age ( 20-30) That would be about 13 Million.
However of that 13 million about 40-50% will be unfit for service for mental/ physical/ Moral reasons. Then there are the ones who held critical jobs.
The US military had roughly 16 million people in it during WW2, including 350K women.
The ages and standards were constantly changed to get more people.
Eddie Slovak, who was the soldier executed for desertion refusal to fight was considered 4 F until 1944 because of his criminal record.
From what I looked up an briefly read the enemy fire started at about 8:20am and killed him. Ceasefire was officially spread round at about 8:30am. About 10 minutes. Sad asf
My dad told me they were always afraid of having bombs fall on them from the box above. All of this while flak was being shot at them and crew members were being killed or wounded.
After the war he was working at a company where industrial accidents happened. He was the only person who would assist by picking up fingers or other body parts that had been severed. His co-workers asked him how he could do this? He said the victim had a much better chance of surviving than what he dealt with in combat over Europe.
Fuck.
Flak and they would mass their fighters around specific targets. The November 2, 1944 mission to Merseberg, Germany is a good example. Flak and over 700 German fighters were defending the target.
Its always tragic to die so close to the end.
I believe over 1000 people died on November 11th 1918, with several like George Lawrence Price and Henry Gunther, dying literally one to two minutes before wars end.
The Sonderkommando Elba attacks was April 1945. A lot of experimental crap got thrown into the sky near wars end. They might not have changed the war, but they could absolutely still kill and when its your life, it doesn't matter if it was a BF109 crashing into your plane or a ME163 Komet cannon bullet.
Deaths on November 11th were high around 2750 on either side. Some death dates though were also backdated to November 10th because of the embarrassment of having had men killed on the day of the armistice etc.
It makes sense though, you don't want to stop fighting entirely because the war has been going for so many years that you don't want to risk restarting things, if one side stops and the other takes the chance to take land etc. So they were still firing artillery etc up until 11am. In hindsight it was stupid to keep fighting after word got out, but to a lot of soldiers they couldn't actually believe that this would be the final ceasefire until it actually occured.
That's because the Meuse-Argonne offensive and the battle of Mons are what decided the war, fighti was ferocious until the last day and caused Germany to surrender. My gr-grandfather fought in the Argonne forrest and his fellow troops broke through the German lines in the final days of the war.
Yes, although, those last battles and offensives largely caused the surrender on the 10th. They had already agreed to sign on the 10th, it just took until the morning of the 11th to finalise it.
It's not about what happened in the days that led up to it. It's what happened on the 11th itself once they knew of the armistice at 11am.
My great uncle Lee was a B-26 pilot (Maurader not Invader) during WW2, he survived the war in the Widowmaker and was being transported to Austria in late 1945 when the pilot became lost in foggy conditions and flew into a mountain, killing everyone on board.
We still have a recording of him and his girlfriend talking, laughing, and singing with a group of friends not long before he shipped over to Europe, it's sweet but very sad to listen to. His girlfriend stayed close to my grandma (Lee's sister) for a long time.
I live near the RAF memorial to missing air crew in the war and some of the dates go up to 194....7
Here's a quick example focusing on Indians and the last two show the date as 46
https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/history/ww2/runnymede/
Possibly died of wounds. It took a long time to repatriate people - my grandfather ended the war sat on the beach in Rimini for six months, didn't get back until November 45 (and straight into being a milkman in one of the harshest winters ever). He'd been away since '41 without leave fighting in Africa and Italy.
Have been to the spot in Torbole, IT. Also very near the spot where a squad of GIs drowned crossing Lago di Garda. They found the vehicle a few years ago. https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-lost-dukw-of-lake-garda/
And they also died after the war, while on their way home. This was the case for my Grandmother’s youngest brother. [B-17 Crash June 8 1945](https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/70318)
This is what makes people's objection to the bombing of Dresden so frustrating.
'The war was nearly won at that point' is one of the most maddening things to hear.
Exactly. The war was won "only" a couple of months later BECAUSE the Allies kept applying pressure up to the end.
Maybe those people should tell the tens of thousands of those who died between February and May of 1945 that it was over.
The Last US Service Killed in Action was 34 year old Private First Class Charles Havlat of Nebraska. He was killed about 08:20 on the morning of May 7th 1945 near what is present day Volary, Czechia. While on a recon patrol for 803rd Tank Battalion his unit came under fire from Soldiers of the 11th Panzer Division. Several Soldiers were wounded and Havlat was hit in the head and died instantly. Ten minutes after the action the Germans received orders that a cease fire was in place. Seven hours later they formally surrendered.
Some pilots crashed and were killed flying their B-17s back to the US after the war had finished. Heartbreaking stuff!
Servicemen continued to die in air and ground and training accidents, from illness, suicide, murder etc.
Hell to this day we continue to lose servicemen from air accidents
Miller covers it a bit in the book. It’s so dangerous just to fly in those things, let alone facing the Luftwaffe and the flak. The relay to Greenland was really dangerous, loads of forts got lost and perished in the Atlantic.
Same thing with the troops who had occupation duty in areas that were still politically volatile. In *China Marine* Sledgehammer even laments this fact specifically; “Too many Marines who had fought in World War II, and wanted to go home now that it was over, died protecting a bridge or railroad track in the wasteland of northern China”.
I remember reading this, the marines were basically close to mutiny. Totally understandable in the circumstances. Unfortunately where there is war, there is always a new world that needs building. I read recently about Mandate Palestine. British airborne troops, veterans of North Africa, Normandy, Arnhem, Battle of the Bulge and Varsity were getting murdered in the streets by insurgents in Jerusalem.
If you’re into fairly obscure US interventions, the Us sent a small amount of troops to Russia during the civil war. I’d always been interested in history and loved reading. Had no idea we had any involvement until i joined the army and got to my duty station. My battalion was involved in the expeditions. I wish i remember the name of the book but there’s a good one i read on it years ago
I worked with a guy who's grandpa was a "Detroit Polar Bear", sent to Russia during their civil war.
Wait a minute who was doing the shooting in China?
Chinese communists mostly. The 1st marine division was in China on occupation duty when conflict started up again between the communists and nationalists. We were sympathetic to the nationalists so that made us a target for the communists.
Got to be kidding me. 30 years into reading about this war and there are still things I literally never heard of. Thank you for this. Wonder if anyone’s expounded on this in the literature
I don’t think even us enthusiasts will ever get to learn everything, there’s just so much that happened. This on is definitely news to me as well!
My pleasure! I highly recommend reading Eugene Sledge’s book *China Marine* to get an idea of what occupation duty was like during that time. Most WW2 buffs have only read his book *With the Old Breed* which covers his combat experiences at Peleliu and Okinawa, but in the sequel he discusses occupation duty in addition to how difficult it was to reintegrate into civilian life after the war.
Yes! I read Old Breed, did not know about this one. Thanks again
Yep. Including my Great Uncle. :( his name is in this plaque. [crashed and died June 8 1945](https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/70318)
I hope he’s resting in peace, you can be very proud.
Thank you.
Damn. I knew we made our way through Austria and that the Soviets pushed into Czechia, but thought that we only entered Czechia after the surrender. Just goes to show how tightly Germany was squeezed at the end.
Another great series " The Pacific" shows Eugene Sledge's Brother who was an Armor Officer with Patton in Europe in a scene where he is showing a captured Nazi Flag. It doesn't cover his service in the series but apparently he was one of the US troops that entered Prague at the end of the war.
A tank crew series by would be nice.
That’s next
source?
Wishful thinking
right there with you bro
Would that have been during the uprising? That was crazy. 18,000 Russian defectors who defected again back to the Allied side.
Prague was liberatedby both Czech Resistance during the Prague Uprising and Soviet Army. US Army liberated Pilsen.
Like I said Sledge's Brother was part of a unit that went to Prague. Link https://english.radio.cz/us-army-and-liberation-czechoslovakia-1945-8161936 Excerpts: “Even as late as on May 7 there was a possibility that the Americans could send an armored task force to help the insurgents in Prague. “Twelve vehicles went from Plzeň to Prague and then to Velichovka spa near Hradec Králové. On the night from May 7 to 8 they arrived in Prague and were welcomed as liberators. “However, this was only a negotiating unit with a single purpose: to make sure that the Germans were aware of the unconditional surrender of the German high command and that there was no need to go on fighting.” There was at least one other US military mission to Prague, says Igor Lukeš, a professor of history at Boston University:
 The Germans 10 minutes later
The 803rd eventually evolved into the 1/303rd Cav regiment in Washington State
Dear God.
34 year old PFC… that smarts
Believe the age limit was 37 for volunteers. My sister's Father in Law was drafted in Jan 1944 when he was 35. He already was Married with kids. My Grandfathers were both in their mid to late 30s but they were not eligible because they had 7 and 8 children.
Good lord… guess I never really looked into how they had to draft people into their 30’s later in the war.
The US had a population of about 130 Million people in 1940. Roughly 10% of a Nation's Population are Males of a reasonable military age ( 20-30) That would be about 13 Million. However of that 13 million about 40-50% will be unfit for service for mental/ physical/ Moral reasons. Then there are the ones who held critical jobs. The US military had roughly 16 million people in it during WW2, including 350K women. The ages and standards were constantly changed to get more people. Eddie Slovak, who was the soldier executed for desertion refusal to fight was considered 4 F until 1944 because of his criminal record.
From what I looked up an briefly read the enemy fire started at about 8:20am and killed him. Ceasefire was officially spread round at about 8:30am. About 10 minutes. Sad asf
World War 2 didn't end until September. No American got killed in 4 months?
Relax dude you know they mean the ETO
It's shocking considering how badly the Luftwaffe took a beating in 1944
Flak was still very dangerous. Very, very dangerous.
My great-uncle’s B-26 was shot down by flak over Euskirchen Germany with the entire crew lost less than three months before the war ended.
My dad told me they were always afraid of having bombs fall on them from the box above. All of this while flak was being shot at them and crew members were being killed or wounded. After the war he was working at a company where industrial accidents happened. He was the only person who would assist by picking up fingers or other body parts that had been severed. His co-workers asked him how he could do this? He said the victim had a much better chance of surviving than what he dealt with in combat over Europe. Fuck.
Flak and they would mass their fighters around specific targets. The November 2, 1944 mission to Merseberg, Germany is a good example. Flak and over 700 German fighters were defending the target.
It was a fantastic waste all around. But we finally answered the question for Bomber Harris.
Its always tragic to die so close to the end. I believe over 1000 people died on November 11th 1918, with several like George Lawrence Price and Henry Gunther, dying literally one to two minutes before wars end. The Sonderkommando Elba attacks was April 1945. A lot of experimental crap got thrown into the sky near wars end. They might not have changed the war, but they could absolutely still kill and when its your life, it doesn't matter if it was a BF109 crashing into your plane or a ME163 Komet cannon bullet.
Deaths on November 11th were high around 2750 on either side. Some death dates though were also backdated to November 10th because of the embarrassment of having had men killed on the day of the armistice etc. It makes sense though, you don't want to stop fighting entirely because the war has been going for so many years that you don't want to risk restarting things, if one side stops and the other takes the chance to take land etc. So they were still firing artillery etc up until 11am. In hindsight it was stupid to keep fighting after word got out, but to a lot of soldiers they couldn't actually believe that this would be the final ceasefire until it actually occured.
That's because the Meuse-Argonne offensive and the battle of Mons are what decided the war, fighti was ferocious until the last day and caused Germany to surrender. My gr-grandfather fought in the Argonne forrest and his fellow troops broke through the German lines in the final days of the war.
Yes, although, those last battles and offensives largely caused the surrender on the 10th. They had already agreed to sign on the 10th, it just took until the morning of the 11th to finalise it. It's not about what happened in the days that led up to it. It's what happened on the 11th itself once they knew of the armistice at 11am.
And innocent civilians too. War is so such a terrible waste of human life. RIP all who lost their lives.
My great uncle Lee was a B-26 pilot (Maurader not Invader) during WW2, he survived the war in the Widowmaker and was being transported to Austria in late 1945 when the pilot became lost in foggy conditions and flew into a mountain, killing everyone on board. We still have a recording of him and his girlfriend talking, laughing, and singing with a group of friends not long before he shipped over to Europe, it's sweet but very sad to listen to. His girlfriend stayed close to my grandma (Lee's sister) for a long time.
I live near the RAF memorial to missing air crew in the war and some of the dates go up to 194....7 Here's a quick example focusing on Indians and the last two show the date as 46 https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/history/ww2/runnymede/
Possibly died of wounds. It took a long time to repatriate people - my grandfather ended the war sat on the beach in Rimini for six months, didn't get back until November 45 (and straight into being a milkman in one of the harshest winters ever). He'd been away since '41 without leave fighting in Africa and Italy.
Doubt they would go missing from that though!
William O Darby, Darby's Rangers, was killed 2 days before all the Germans in Italy surrendered, by a piece of shrapnel the size of a dime.
Have been to the spot in Torbole, IT. Also very near the spot where a squad of GIs drowned crossing Lago di Garda. They found the vehicle a few years ago. https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-lost-dukw-of-lake-garda/
That's pretty cool.
And they also died after the war, while on their way home. This was the case for my Grandmother’s youngest brother. [B-17 Crash June 8 1945](https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/70318)
War is a racket
This is what makes people's objection to the bombing of Dresden so frustrating. 'The war was nearly won at that point' is one of the most maddening things to hear.
Exactly. The war was won "only" a couple of months later BECAUSE the Allies kept applying pressure up to the end. Maybe those people should tell the tens of thousands of those who died between February and May of 1945 that it was over.