WW II ARMY PHOTOGRAPH RECALLS MY GREAT UNCLE ON MEMORIAL DAY

WW II ARMY PHOTOGRAPH RECALLS MY GREAT UNCLE ON MEMORIAL DAY -Corporal Chester T. Dean, died two days after D-Day

Corporal Chester T. Dean was killed in a training accident in Wales. This is one of two known photographs of Chet. Photo courtesy Deb Covey Morley

In just twenty-two years, he grew up, married, served in the Army, and died in World War II.

No one now under the age of seventy-six knew him. But we haven’t forgotten him or his sacrifice.

I recently received what I believe to be the only two remaining photographs of my great uncle, Corporal Chester T. Dean. Known as Chet by his family and friends, he was one of many who served in our military and paid the ultimate price in defending our nation during World War II.

Chet’s story was reported in the Our Community Story column a few years ago. At the time, I asked a couple of family members whether they had a photo of him. Neither did.

I moved forward with the story using just a picture of my home town’s Honor Roll where Chet’s name is printed along with other local soldiers who served in all our nation’s wars.

Like many from that “Greatest Generation”, the story ended with the publication of my five-hundred word column. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much more I could add to his story as his two brothers and five sisters have all passed.

He died at the age of twenty-two, so even his nieces and nephews had but fleeting memories of their uncle.

As I wrote at the time, Chet’s story, like that of most of our brave men and women who died while wearing the uniform of our armed forces, remained frozen in time.

My family would visit his grave on Memorial Day. The inscription on his gravestone reads: CORP. CHESTER T. DEAN CO. C. 748th MED. TK. BN KILLED IN WALES AUG 23, 1922 - JUNE 8, 1944

Chet Dean (right) with his brother Charlie in a somewhat blurred photo. Charlie also served in WW II and lived to enjoy a few years of retirement. Photo: Deb Covey Morley

Based on this photo provided to me by my second cousin, I surmise that Chet was close to his brother Charlie.

Charlie was a frequent visitor to my parents’ home during the years I grew up back in the 1960s and 1970s.

A widower in the early 1970s following the passing of his wife Rose, Charlie was close to his nephew’s Stub (my dad) and Jim (my uncle).

As I recalled in my book Growing Up, Upstate, Charlie’s sense of humor was manifested in many ways. For example, he was known for stirring his cup of coffee and then touching the rounded end of the now hot spoon to the wrist of the nearest person sitting at the kitchen table.

That person, usually my great aunt Myrtle, would recoil her wrist, and then utter an expletive. Charlie would then smile and wink at either my father or me.

This early photo illustration combines Chet Dean’s military picture with the image of his wife Shirley. Photo: Deb Covey Morley.

Here’s what I know about my great uncle Chester Dean.

Born in 1922, he was the brother of my grandmother, Vera. In addition to Vera, he had four other sisters: Mary, Vaughn, Myrtle, and Viola (known in the family as Peachy).

Chester had two brothers: Charlie, who was serving in the Army Air Corps in Italy at the time of Chet’s death, and Harry who was living in upstate New York.

The Dean children were a big part of my growing up experience.
The Dean adult children were truly part of our family. My family was always spending time with them playing cards, dropping in for coffee, or helping out on a house project.

Unfortunately, no one in my generation would know Chet. He went into the U.S. Army in 1942, did his basic training at Camp Rucker, Alabama and was then transferred to Fort Knox, Kentucky before being sent on for desert training in Arizona.

He was sent to Wales in April 1944.

While soldiers were dying every hour during World War II, Chet was doing his duty and looking forward to life with his wife once the war was over.

Two months later, the landing at Normandy would take place off the coast of France. Chet, now Corporal Dean, remained in Wales for training that would likely lead to action on the field of battle.

On June 8, 1944, just two days after D-Day, he was training in Wales when an explosion occurred.

Chet suffered concussion and shrapnel injuries. His hospital report cited injuries caused by an artillery shell, a blast, fragments, and debris.

The report states he died in the “line of duty”. His death is listed in military records as KNB; that stands for killed, non-combat.

His wife Shirley got the news in the form of a telegram. According to an account of Chet’s death in the Lowville (NY) Journal and Republican newspaper, the telegram was very brief.

The message was from Adjutant General A.J. Ulio. The Adjutant General’s Office is the administrative unit responsible for correspondence, records, and awards.

It stated that Chet died on June 8, 1944. The telegram ended with two words: Letter follows.

Shirley wanted more information about how her husband died. On July 10, a little over one month after Chet’s death, she wrote to the war department asking for more information and an official confirmation.

The newspaper article in the Lowville (NY) Journal and Republican reporting the death of Corporal Chester T. Dean and quoting from the message Shirley Dean received from the military.

On July 27, 1944, just seven weeks after the training accident and three weeks after her letter asking for confirmation, a letter arrived for Shirley.

The letter provided additional details surrounding Chet’s life, the kind of soldier he was, and the kind of man he was:

 Dear Mrs. Dean:

I have your letter of July 10 and want to thank you for writing to me concerning your husband, Cpl Chester T. Dean. It is true, Mrs. Dean, that your husband is dead. The war department did not make a mistake.

I buried him with the ceremony appropriate to military funerals and then in addition to that, we had a memorial service in the company for him. The entire company was present, together with others from the battalion. The battalion commander was present. There were some beautiful tributes paid to your husband.

I only wish I had them recorded so you could hear what they said. But, knowing him to be the man that he was, you do not need them, do you? We held you and other loved ones before the Throne of God in prayer. And Chester's good life and devotion to God has been an inspiration to many others since that service to a closer walk with God. He was always in my services as often as duty would permit.

It was an unfortunate accident that caused his death. More than that I cannot say.  But it was very encouraging to hear the company commander say that he was one of his very best men and that he wished he had a whole company of men like him. We all felt the same way.

His last hours were not spent in suffering. He died an easy death. We did all we could for him.

Chet Dean was born in northern New York, endured the Great Depression, married young, served his country in the military, and died in World War II. I never got a chance to know this man. But I appreciate the words attributed to the company commander that were included in the letter Chet’s widow Shirley received: “he wished he had a whole company of men like him.”

A family photo of my great aunts and uncles, along with my great grandfather. Chet Dean is not in the photo, and as Charlie who also served in World War II is in the photo, we presume it was taken after the war. Photo: Deb Covey Morley

By knowing Chet’s surviving siblings, my family did have a group of people just like him. Vera, Mary, Vaughn, Myrtle, Peachy, and Charlie (Harry would pass before I was born) were caring people who loved their families, and who enjoyed a good hearty sense of humor.

I can imagine Chet sitting at my parents’ kitchen table with a cup of coffee, playing a game of cards, and telling stories about his life before and after his service.

He would likely have been quiet about his World War II experiences.

Like so many of the Greatest Generation, he would remember his buddies and try to put the tragedies from that war behind him.

We honor him for the hero he was.

And we will never forget.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced, CA.

His new book is Course Corrections and is available on Lulu.com .

He is indebted to his second cousin Deb Covey Morley. She has gathered photographs, documents, letters, and other items about many members of his dad’s side of the family.