View Cenotaph here
The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN) 24 Dec 1999 (Friday, pg. N1)
After 55 years, World War II widow finally learns how her first husband died in battle
By John M. Flora
STAFF WRITER
LEBANON, Ind. -- Daphne Cavin, whose story of young love cut short by World War II was included in Tom Brokaw's best-selling The Greatest Generation, is sleeping easier now.
Daphne, 80, had been married to Raymond Kelley only 26 months when he was killed in action in September 1944. A private first class in the 45th Infantry Division, Kelley was killed as his unit prepared to take the town of Mancrenans in southern France.
With only the terse War Department telegram and a letter from her young husband's sergeant, Daphne knew precious little about the circumstances of Kelley's death.
She pushed it to the back of her mind through a second marriage and the raising of four children, but the ache of not knowing how her first love died was always there.
Second husband Marvin Cavin died of cancer in 1975. Shortly after his death, she retrieved a scrapbook of her life with Kelley that she'd given to her sister for safekeeping when she married Marvin in 1950.
As she turned the pages and gazed at the photos of that young red-haired Lebanon beautician and her handsome soldier, the memories flooded back.
But until this month, she never knew the details of how she became a war widow.
"I'd always wondered how he felt about being over there, whether he was unhappy or felt alone," she said.
Then, three weeks ago, she got a letter from A.C. Clark -- forwarded to her by Brokaw's staff. Clark, 77, Cookeville, Tenn., wrote to Brokaw to thank him for writing The Greatest Generation and wondered if Daphne would like to talk to one of her husband's buddies who was on patrol with him when he was killed.
Daphne called Clark at his home about 80 miles east of Nashville the afternoon of Dec. 10.
"I'd always wanted to contact her," said Clark, a retired agricultural extension service agent who also served two years as Tennessee commissioner of agriculture.
"But I figured that maybe she'd married again, and I didn't want to disrupt anything and bring back old memories. It was a good many years before I felt like I wanted to talk about all these things myself. I was sorry I didn't get in touch with her, but I just didn't know what to do about it."
Clark said he was leafing through a friend's copy of The Greatest Generation when "there was Raymond's picture. It just fell open there."
"I thought, 'Here's a fellow I was with when he got killed.' I got to thinking I would like to tell her what I knew. I wondered if she knew how he died," he said.
Clark remembers it was a warm sunny day as he, Kelley and about 35-40 other men in two platoons deployed on a hillside. The men of the 45th Division were pushing up the Rhone River valley as the Germans fought a delaying action.
The GIs were spread out, about 15-20 feet apart, keeping an eye on the ridge above them where they thought the enemy might be waiting.
Just then, Clark said, "This German halftrack came around the bottom of the hill and sprayed the hillside with machine gun fire. We thought they would be up on the ridge, and everybody was looking the other way. They came through about 15-20 miles per hour and just sprayed the hillside and kept on going."
Clark thinks the Germans may have been cut off by the advancing U.S. troops and were making a dash for their own lines.
"The thing that always stuck in my mind was seeing Raymond lying there when we had just been talking 30 minutes before," he said.
"I remember seeing Raymond's wedding ring on his finger, and I wondered if the Graves Registration Service would ever get it back to his family," he said. "I have no idea who was standing there with me, but he said, 'Should we take it?'
"But we decided we might be in his shape tomorrow and we'd lose it for sure then. If it was sent back to our folks, they wouldn't know whose it was," he said.
Clark said he'd known Kelley about three or four months, having met the Boone County soldier when the 45th Division was fighting in Italy.
"He was a fine man, and I told her this," he said of his first conversation with Daphne.
"I didn't know whether she knew this, but they were after some of us older Pfcs. to take a promotion to staff sergeant and take over a platoon.
"Most of us felt like we didn't want the responsibility," he said, recalling a popular expression about the hazards of being a leader: "Staff today, stiff tomorrow.
"Raymond had decided to take a platoon, but his sergeant rank didn't come through in time," he said. "He was to be made a staff sergeant the day after he was killed."
That was an important detail for Daphne, who recalled Raymond came to her in a dream about the time he was killed.
Without speaking, she said, he took her into his arms and held her as if to comfort her.
"I can remember feeling his hands on my back," she said, recalling she was confused because he was dressed as an officer in the dream.
She said she got a little chill when Clark told her about Kelley's impending promotion. Even though a sergeant is not an officer, she said, Kelley's appearance in the dream did suggest a promotion.
Clark saw his share of death in 180 days of combat.
"I got to looking last night in my 45th Division History at the list of people who were killed, and I counted a little over 100 men I knew personally," he said, adding Raymond Kelley was one of just a few he felt he knew well.
"From the time I started with the outfit in Italy until I left it in France, their mailman told me over 1,000 men went through our 180-man company," he said. "They didn't want you to get too close to the other men. It just hurt that much worse when they got killed."
Daphne said her conversation with Clark feels like an early Christmas present.
"I feel at peace," she said. "For 56 years I had wondered if he was staying happy like he always was at home, if the Germans got his body . . . And I just thought it would be so wonderful if I could just talk to somebody who knew him over there.
"Then, all of a sudden there's this book, and Mr. Clark read the book and all of a sudden, I've done it," she said.
"I feel a completeness that I just can't describe. I feel more at peace than I ever have."
The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN) 24 Dec 1999 (Friday, pg. N1)
After 55 years, World War II widow finally learns how her first husband died in battle
By John M. Flora
STAFF WRITER
LEBANON, Ind. -- Daphne Cavin, whose story of young love cut short by World War II was included in Tom Brokaw's best-selling The Greatest Generation, is sleeping easier now.
Daphne, 80, had been married to Raymond Kelley only 26 months when he was killed in action in September 1944. A private first class in the 45th Infantry Division, Kelley was killed as his unit prepared to take the town of Mancrenans in southern France.
With only the terse War Department telegram and a letter from her young husband's sergeant, Daphne knew precious little about the circumstances of Kelley's death.
She pushed it to the back of her mind through a second marriage and the raising of four children, but the ache of not knowing how her first love died was always there.
Second husband Marvin Cavin died of cancer in 1975. Shortly after his death, she retrieved a scrapbook of her life with Kelley that she'd given to her sister for safekeeping when she married Marvin in 1950.
As she turned the pages and gazed at the photos of that young red-haired Lebanon beautician and her handsome soldier, the memories flooded back.
But until this month, she never knew the details of how she became a war widow.
"I'd always wondered how he felt about being over there, whether he was unhappy or felt alone," she said.
Then, three weeks ago, she got a letter from A.C. Clark -- forwarded to her by Brokaw's staff. Clark, 77, Cookeville, Tenn., wrote to Brokaw to thank him for writing The Greatest Generation and wondered if Daphne would like to talk to one of her husband's buddies who was on patrol with him when he was killed.
Daphne called Clark at his home about 80 miles east of Nashville the afternoon of Dec. 10.
"I'd always wanted to contact her," said Clark, a retired agricultural extension service agent who also served two years as Tennessee commissioner of agriculture.
"But I figured that maybe she'd married again, and I didn't want to disrupt anything and bring back old memories. It was a good many years before I felt like I wanted to talk about all these things myself. I was sorry I didn't get in touch with her, but I just didn't know what to do about it."
Clark said he was leafing through a friend's copy of The Greatest Generation when "there was Raymond's picture. It just fell open there."
"I thought, 'Here's a fellow I was with when he got killed.' I got to thinking I would like to tell her what I knew. I wondered if she knew how he died," he said.
Clark remembers it was a warm sunny day as he, Kelley and about 35-40 other men in two platoons deployed on a hillside. The men of the 45th Division were pushing up the Rhone River valley as the Germans fought a delaying action.
The GIs were spread out, about 15-20 feet apart, keeping an eye on the ridge above them where they thought the enemy might be waiting.
Just then, Clark said, "This German halftrack came around the bottom of the hill and sprayed the hillside with machine gun fire. We thought they would be up on the ridge, and everybody was looking the other way. They came through about 15-20 miles per hour and just sprayed the hillside and kept on going."
Clark thinks the Germans may have been cut off by the advancing U.S. troops and were making a dash for their own lines.
"The thing that always stuck in my mind was seeing Raymond lying there when we had just been talking 30 minutes before," he said.
"I remember seeing Raymond's wedding ring on his finger, and I wondered if the Graves Registration Service would ever get it back to his family," he said. "I have no idea who was standing there with me, but he said, 'Should we take it?'
"But we decided we might be in his shape tomorrow and we'd lose it for sure then. If it was sent back to our folks, they wouldn't know whose it was," he said.
Clark said he'd known Kelley about three or four months, having met the Boone County soldier when the 45th Division was fighting in Italy.
"He was a fine man, and I told her this," he said of his first conversation with Daphne.
"I didn't know whether she knew this, but they were after some of us older Pfcs. to take a promotion to staff sergeant and take over a platoon.
"Most of us felt like we didn't want the responsibility," he said, recalling a popular expression about the hazards of being a leader: "Staff today, stiff tomorrow.
"Raymond had decided to take a platoon, but his sergeant rank didn't come through in time," he said. "He was to be made a staff sergeant the day after he was killed."
That was an important detail for Daphne, who recalled Raymond came to her in a dream about the time he was killed.
Without speaking, she said, he took her into his arms and held her as if to comfort her.
"I can remember feeling his hands on my back," she said, recalling she was confused because he was dressed as an officer in the dream.
She said she got a little chill when Clark told her about Kelley's impending promotion. Even though a sergeant is not an officer, she said, Kelley's appearance in the dream did suggest a promotion.
Clark saw his share of death in 180 days of combat.
"I got to looking last night in my 45th Division History at the list of people who were killed, and I counted a little over 100 men I knew personally," he said, adding Raymond Kelley was one of just a few he felt he knew well.
"From the time I started with the outfit in Italy until I left it in France, their mailman told me over 1,000 men went through our 180-man company," he said. "They didn't want you to get too close to the other men. It just hurt that much worse when they got killed."
Daphne said her conversation with Clark feels like an early Christmas present.
"I feel at peace," she said. "For 56 years I had wondered if he was staying happy like he always was at home, if the Germans got his body . . . And I just thought it would be so wonderful if I could just talk to somebody who knew him over there.
"Then, all of a sudden there's this book, and Mr. Clark read the book and all of a sudden, I've done it," she said.
"I feel a completeness that I just can't describe. I feel more at peace than I ever have."
View Cenotaph here
The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN) 24 Dec 1999 (Friday, pg. N1)
After 55 years, World War II widow finally learns how her first husband died in battle
By John M. Flora
STAFF WRITER
LEBANON, Ind. -- Daphne Cavin, whose story of young love cut short by World War II was included in Tom Brokaw's best-selling The Greatest Generation, is sleeping easier now.
Daphne, 80, had been married to Raymond Kelley only 26 months when he was killed in action in September 1944. A private first class in the 45th Infantry Division, Kelley was killed as his unit prepared to take the town of Mancrenans in southern France.
With only the terse War Department telegram and a letter from her young husband's sergeant, Daphne knew precious little about the circumstances of Kelley's death.
She pushed it to the back of her mind through a second marriage and the raising of four children, but the ache of not knowing how her first love died was always there.
Second husband Marvin Cavin died of cancer in 1975. Shortly after his death, she retrieved a scrapbook of her life with Kelley that she'd given to her sister for safekeeping when she married Marvin in 1950.
As she turned the pages and gazed at the photos of that young red-haired Lebanon beautician and her handsome soldier, the memories flooded back.
But until this month, she never knew the details of how she became a war widow.
"I'd always wondered how he felt about being over there, whether he was unhappy or felt alone," she said.
Then, three weeks ago, she got a letter from A.C. Clark -- forwarded to her by Brokaw's staff. Clark, 77, Cookeville, Tenn., wrote to Brokaw to thank him for writing The Greatest Generation and wondered if Daphne would like to talk to one of her husband's buddies who was on patrol with him when he was killed.
Daphne called Clark at his home about 80 miles east of Nashville the afternoon of Dec. 10.
"I'd always wanted to contact her," said Clark, a retired agricultural extension service agent who also served two years as Tennessee commissioner of agriculture.
"But I figured that maybe she'd married again, and I didn't want to disrupt anything and bring back old memories. It was a good many years before I felt like I wanted to talk about all these things myself. I was sorry I didn't get in touch with her, but I just didn't know what to do about it."
Clark said he was leafing through a friend's copy of The Greatest Generation when "there was Raymond's picture. It just fell open there."
"I thought, 'Here's a fellow I was with when he got killed.' I got to thinking I would like to tell her what I knew. I wondered if she knew how he died," he said.
Clark remembers it was a warm sunny day as he, Kelley and about 35-40 other men in two platoons deployed on a hillside. The men of the 45th Division were pushing up the Rhone River valley as the Germans fought a delaying action.
The GIs were spread out, about 15-20 feet apart, keeping an eye on the ridge above them where they thought the enemy might be waiting.
Just then, Clark said, "This German halftrack came around the bottom of the hill and sprayed the hillside with machine gun fire. We thought they would be up on the ridge, and everybody was looking the other way. They came through about 15-20 miles per hour and just sprayed the hillside and kept on going."
Clark thinks the Germans may have been cut off by the advancing U.S. troops and were making a dash for their own lines.
"The thing that always stuck in my mind was seeing Raymond lying there when we had just been talking 30 minutes before," he said.
"I remember seeing Raymond's wedding ring on his finger, and I wondered if the Graves Registration Service would ever get it back to his family," he said. "I have no idea who was standing there with me, but he said, 'Should we take it?'
"But we decided we might be in his shape tomorrow and we'd lose it for sure then. If it was sent back to our folks, they wouldn't know whose it was," he said.
Clark said he'd known Kelley about three or four months, having met the Boone County soldier when the 45th Division was fighting in Italy.
"He was a fine man, and I told her this," he said of his first conversation with Daphne.
"I didn't know whether she knew this, but they were after some of us older Pfcs. to take a promotion to staff sergeant and take over a platoon.
"Most of us felt like we didn't want the responsibility," he said, recalling a popular expression about the hazards of being a leader: "Staff today, stiff tomorrow.
"Raymond had decided to take a platoon, but his sergeant rank didn't come through in time," he said. "He was to be made a staff sergeant the day after he was killed."
That was an important detail for Daphne, who recalled Raymond came to her in a dream about the time he was killed.
Without speaking, she said, he took her into his arms and held her as if to comfort her.
"I can remember feeling his hands on my back," she said, recalling she was confused because he was dressed as an officer in the dream.
She said she got a little chill when Clark told her about Kelley's impending promotion. Even though a sergeant is not an officer, she said, Kelley's appearance in the dream did suggest a promotion.
Clark saw his share of death in 180 days of combat.
"I got to looking last night in my 45th Division History at the list of people who were killed, and I counted a little over 100 men I knew personally," he said, adding Raymond Kelley was one of just a few he felt he knew well.
"From the time I started with the outfit in Italy until I left it in France, their mailman told me over 1,000 men went through our 180-man company," he said. "They didn't want you to get too close to the other men. It just hurt that much worse when they got killed."
Daphne said her conversation with Clark feels like an early Christmas present.
"I feel at peace," she said. "For 56 years I had wondered if he was staying happy like he always was at home, if the Germans got his body . . . And I just thought it would be so wonderful if I could just talk to somebody who knew him over there.
"Then, all of a sudden there's this book, and Mr. Clark read the book and all of a sudden, I've done it," she said.
"I feel a completeness that I just can't describe. I feel more at peace than I ever have."
The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN) 24 Dec 1999 (Friday, pg. N1)
After 55 years, World War II widow finally learns how her first husband died in battle
By John M. Flora
STAFF WRITER
LEBANON, Ind. -- Daphne Cavin, whose story of young love cut short by World War II was included in Tom Brokaw's best-selling The Greatest Generation, is sleeping easier now.
Daphne, 80, had been married to Raymond Kelley only 26 months when he was killed in action in September 1944. A private first class in the 45th Infantry Division, Kelley was killed as his unit prepared to take the town of Mancrenans in southern France.
With only the terse War Department telegram and a letter from her young husband's sergeant, Daphne knew precious little about the circumstances of Kelley's death.
She pushed it to the back of her mind through a second marriage and the raising of four children, but the ache of not knowing how her first love died was always there.
Second husband Marvin Cavin died of cancer in 1975. Shortly after his death, she retrieved a scrapbook of her life with Kelley that she'd given to her sister for safekeeping when she married Marvin in 1950.
As she turned the pages and gazed at the photos of that young red-haired Lebanon beautician and her handsome soldier, the memories flooded back.
But until this month, she never knew the details of how she became a war widow.
"I'd always wondered how he felt about being over there, whether he was unhappy or felt alone," she said.
Then, three weeks ago, she got a letter from A.C. Clark -- forwarded to her by Brokaw's staff. Clark, 77, Cookeville, Tenn., wrote to Brokaw to thank him for writing The Greatest Generation and wondered if Daphne would like to talk to one of her husband's buddies who was on patrol with him when he was killed.
Daphne called Clark at his home about 80 miles east of Nashville the afternoon of Dec. 10.
"I'd always wanted to contact her," said Clark, a retired agricultural extension service agent who also served two years as Tennessee commissioner of agriculture.
"But I figured that maybe she'd married again, and I didn't want to disrupt anything and bring back old memories. It was a good many years before I felt like I wanted to talk about all these things myself. I was sorry I didn't get in touch with her, but I just didn't know what to do about it."
Clark said he was leafing through a friend's copy of The Greatest Generation when "there was Raymond's picture. It just fell open there."
"I thought, 'Here's a fellow I was with when he got killed.' I got to thinking I would like to tell her what I knew. I wondered if she knew how he died," he said.
Clark remembers it was a warm sunny day as he, Kelley and about 35-40 other men in two platoons deployed on a hillside. The men of the 45th Division were pushing up the Rhone River valley as the Germans fought a delaying action.
The GIs were spread out, about 15-20 feet apart, keeping an eye on the ridge above them where they thought the enemy might be waiting.
Just then, Clark said, "This German halftrack came around the bottom of the hill and sprayed the hillside with machine gun fire. We thought they would be up on the ridge, and everybody was looking the other way. They came through about 15-20 miles per hour and just sprayed the hillside and kept on going."
Clark thinks the Germans may have been cut off by the advancing U.S. troops and were making a dash for their own lines.
"The thing that always stuck in my mind was seeing Raymond lying there when we had just been talking 30 minutes before," he said.
"I remember seeing Raymond's wedding ring on his finger, and I wondered if the Graves Registration Service would ever get it back to his family," he said. "I have no idea who was standing there with me, but he said, 'Should we take it?'
"But we decided we might be in his shape tomorrow and we'd lose it for sure then. If it was sent back to our folks, they wouldn't know whose it was," he said.
Clark said he'd known Kelley about three or four months, having met the Boone County soldier when the 45th Division was fighting in Italy.
"He was a fine man, and I told her this," he said of his first conversation with Daphne.
"I didn't know whether she knew this, but they were after some of us older Pfcs. to take a promotion to staff sergeant and take over a platoon.
"Most of us felt like we didn't want the responsibility," he said, recalling a popular expression about the hazards of being a leader: "Staff today, stiff tomorrow.
"Raymond had decided to take a platoon, but his sergeant rank didn't come through in time," he said. "He was to be made a staff sergeant the day after he was killed."
That was an important detail for Daphne, who recalled Raymond came to her in a dream about the time he was killed.
Without speaking, she said, he took her into his arms and held her as if to comfort her.
"I can remember feeling his hands on my back," she said, recalling she was confused because he was dressed as an officer in the dream.
She said she got a little chill when Clark told her about Kelley's impending promotion. Even though a sergeant is not an officer, she said, Kelley's appearance in the dream did suggest a promotion.
Clark saw his share of death in 180 days of combat.
"I got to looking last night in my 45th Division History at the list of people who were killed, and I counted a little over 100 men I knew personally," he said, adding Raymond Kelley was one of just a few he felt he knew well.
"From the time I started with the outfit in Italy until I left it in France, their mailman told me over 1,000 men went through our 180-man company," he said. "They didn't want you to get too close to the other men. It just hurt that much worse when they got killed."
Daphne said her conversation with Clark feels like an early Christmas present.
"I feel at peace," she said. "For 56 years I had wondered if he was staying happy like he always was at home, if the Germans got his body . . . And I just thought it would be so wonderful if I could just talk to somebody who knew him over there.
"Then, all of a sudden there's this book, and Mr. Clark read the book and all of a sudden, I've done it," she said.
"I feel a completeness that I just can't describe. I feel more at peace than I ever have."
Gravesite Details
Entered the Service from Indiana.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
