PFC Charley Havlat

His family did not learn he was the last until about 1995, when a VFW magazine reported it. In June 1945 his brother Adolph, stationed in Frankfurt, had hitchhiked to Volary, then Wallern, where Rudolph was stationed, to see Charley's temporary grave. A memorial plaque and sign were dedicated on May 4, 2002, beside the road between Lenora and Volary. The Dorchester American Legion post and the Dorchester Area Community Foundation raised $5,000 for this marker, dedicated on May 30, 2010, and on May 7, 2015, Governor Pete Ricketts proclaimed Charley Havlat Day.

What the plaque says

PFC Charley Havlat PFC Charley Havlat of Dorchester, Nebraska, was the last confirmed American combat fatality in the European Theater during World War II. He was born in rural Saline County, the oldest son of Anton and Antonia (Nemec) Havlat, Czech immigrants to Nebraska in the early 1900s. His brothers, Adoph, Rudolph, and Lumir, also served in the U.S. Army during the war. Charley and Rudolph served together in the 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion. On the morning of May 7, 1945, two reconnaissance platoons were sent forward to locate German positions northeast of the Czech town of Volary. About 8:20 a.m. a burst of small arms fire from enemy soldiers in the woods struck the American patrol, wounding several and killing Havlat. Word of a formal cease-fire to take effect at 8:30 a.m. reached the American and German units a few minutes later. The cease-fire ended the war in Europe. Ironically, Havlat died while helping liberate his parents' homeland. He is buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery at Saint-Avold, France. More information on Charley Havlat can be found in the Saline County Museum. Dorchester Area Community Foundation Nebraska State Historical Society, 2009

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Nebraska State Capitol — 24 mi
  Bertram Goodhue's 400-foot tower on the prairie, built in four phases from 1922 to 1932 and paid off on completion, home of the only one-house legislature in the country.
• Homestead National Historical Park — 29 mi
  Daniel Freeman's claim on Cub Creek near Beatrice, one of the first filed under the Homestead Act, with a one-room school, a homesteader's cabin, restored prairie and the land's earlier owners.

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• Beaver Crossing, Nebraska — 12 mi
• The Beaver Crossing Mill — 13 mi
• Standing Bear and the Ponca Tribe — 13 mi