On May 7th, 1945, around 6 P.M., Private First Class Charles Havlat was on patrol near Volary, Czechoslovakia with fellow soldiers of the Fifth Infantry Division. He was manning a machine gun in a jeep driven by the Lieutenant leading the unit.
His squad was ambushed, and during a “brief, but intense skirmish,” Havalt was shot through the head and killed. The shooting ended only because both sides were informed that hours earlier, Nazi Germany had signed an instrument of surrender. It was due to take effect at midnight of the next day, and when it did, World War II in Europe was over.
Killed in a completely unnecessary action, PFC Havlat is generally regarded as the last American to die at the hands of Nazi aggression.
Or at least he was until this weekend.
Mike Rothschild 