World War II Honoree

Charles Havlat

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Nebraska

Honored By

S/Sgt Al Rasof

He served with the 2ND Platoon, C Company, 803RD Tank Destroyer Battalion, U.S. 5TH Infantry 'RED DIAMOND' Division, assigned to General Patton's 3RD ARMY, from Omaha Beach to St.Lo, across northern France through Belgium and Holland up to the Siegfried Line. He was at Aachen and the Huertgen Forest at the onset of the Battle of the Bulge. On the morning of May 7, 1945, he was part of a reconnaissance platoon checking out German positions northeast of the Czechoslovakian town of Wallern. Suddenly, the platoon was blindsided by a hail of enemy machine gun and small arms fire from concealed enemy positions and he took a bullet to the head. He lost his life a mere six hours before Germany’s unconditional surrender. This was the last documented American death of WWII.