Memorial Day Special: Honoring Charley Havlat's Ultimate Sacrifice

On Thursday, May 7, 2015 -- exactly 70 years to the day that a German bullet ended the life of Dorchester's Charley Havlat -- Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts stopped by our village and the Saline County Museum to honor Havlat, his sacrifice, his values, and his hometown.

On that day eight years ago, more than 125 attended the ceremony, including the Dorchester American Legion Honor Guard and Charley Havlat's surviving siblings.

Ricketts gave a moving speech, recognizing the ultimate sacrifice made by more than 400,000 Americans in World War II on VE Day. The governor also had strong praise for Dorchester and its sense of community, calling the village "such a special place" that never forgot Havlat because its people care for one another.  

Here's how the World-Herald story captured the event:

In a sun-splashed ceremony after a night of thunder, lightning and torrential rainfall, Havlat’s hometown commemorated the 70th anniversary of the day he became the last American soldier killed in action in Europe during World War II.

Havlat’s reconnaissance platoon was ambushed by German soldiers on a dirt road in his parents’ native Czechoslovakia. The firefight erupted nine minutes after a cease-fire order and an armistice had gone into effect on the day — May 7, 1945 — of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender.
Havlat suffered a mortal head wound. Neither the American nor German soldiers were aware of the cease-fire until minutes later, according to accounts of the encounter.

Standing in front of the Pfc. Charley Havlat state historical marker at the Saline County Museum, Governor Pete Ricketts said Havlat’s sacrifice is a reminder that freedom is not free. “We’re here today to honor Charley Havlat,’’ Ricketts said, “but he wasn’t alone.’’

Ricketts said Havlat was one of 33 sons of Saline County — and nearly 3,000 Nebraskans — killed during the war.  Havlat’s sacrifice and the continued sacrifices of men and women who serve in the military have secured the freedoms Americans enjoy today, Ricketts said.

The 34-year-old Havlat represented the best of Nebraska, said the governor, who made a point to aim his remarks at approximately 30 Dorchester fourth- and fifth-graders and several high school students in the crowd.

“He was more than just a soldier,’’ he said. “He was a son. He was a brother.’’ 

The eldest of six children born to a Czech couple who immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s, Charley was one of three brothers to serve in the European Theater during the war.

Ricketts said Havlat was committed to his family and community. He said Havlat would roll a wagon wheel through snow outside the family’s house in the 1930s to try to convince his younger brothers and sisters that Santa Claus had actually been there.

Havlat’s surviving sister and brother — 95-year-old Lillian Mares of Seward, Nebraska, and 89-year-old Adolph Havlat of Lincoln — attended the ceremony.  Mares later prodded Ricketts about designating the eight-mile stretch of Nebraska Highway 33 from Dorchester to Crete as the Charles Havlat Memorial Highway. The State Highway Commission rejected a similar request in 2006. Ricketts said he was aware of the issue, and his administration is working on it.

Adolph Havlat was a soldier working in Supreme Allied Headquarters in Frankfurt when he received a letter from his parents in June telling him of his brother’s death. “That wasn’t good,’’ he said. “It was worse on my mom. Her first born. It was tough for her.’’

Adolph was granted leave to hitchhike from Frankfurt to join his brother, Rudy, a soldier with a tank unit, near Wallern (now Volary), Czechoslovakia, and visit Charley’s temporary grave. Adolph said the family didn’t know until about 20 years ago that Charley was the last GI to die in combat in Europe, which was reported in a Veterans of Foreign Wars magazine.

Never married, Charley worked as a farm hand and started a trucking company with his cousin, Lumir Havlat. They were hauling grain, rocks and salt up and down Highway 33 and throughout the region when Charley was drafted in 1942.

Charley is buried at Lorraine American Cemetery near St. Avold, France. A Czech military club has placed a memorial plaque at the spot he was killed. Ricketts proclaimed Thursday as “Charles Havlat Day’’ in Nebraska.

Adolph said he and Rudy paid for a bouquet to be placed on Charley’s grave every Memorial Day for years.“It seemed like it happened yesterday,’’ Adolph said. “But it’s been 70 years. That’s a long time. Where did that 70 years go?”