Harley "Lee" Forbes

Harley "Lee" Forbes was the son of William McKinley and Leanor Marie Winters Forbes (Daddy and Mama Forbes) and was my great uncle. He was born April 11, 1926 and he enlisted in the United States Army on June 28, 1944. He was barely old enough to enlist and wanted to because his older brothers, Paul and Blaine, were already serving. Here is a picture of Lee in his full Army uniform...



During World War II, Lee served in the European area and was in Glider Flights and was a Combat Infantryman. April of 1945 was a busy and deadly time in the war. On April 9th the German fortress at Königsberg falls to the Soviets and 300 were killed in a separate incident when a bomb laden Liberty ship exploded in the harbor near Bari, Italy. At the same time, a band of American soldiers were transporting prisoners across the Rhine River in a boat en route to the German POW prison when the boat capsized. Lee Forbes was on that boat delivering the German prisoners and on April 9, 1945, he drowned in the Rhine River. He was two days shy of his 19th birthday and had been in the United States Army for less than a year.

He was certified Missing in Action at that time and the Secretary of War certified his death on June 15, 1945 and the military notified his mother. He was buried in Margarten Holland on April 28, 1945. The War officially ended on December 31, 1946.

A letter I have from the Secretary of War, written to Mama Forbes, states:

March 13, 1947

Dear Mrs. Forbes:

The War Department is most desirous that you be furnished information regarding the burial location of your son, the late Private Harley Forbes, A.S.N. 34 997 646.

The records of this office disclose that his remains are interred in the U.S. Military Cemetery Margarten, Holland, plot GG, row 6, grave 144. You may be assured that the identification and interment have been accomplished with fitting dignity and solemnity.

This cemetery is located ten miles west of Achen, Germany, and is under the constant care and supervision of United States military personnel.

The War Department has now been authorized to comply, at Government expense, with the feasible wishes of the next of kin regarding final interment, here or abroad, of the remains of your loved one. At a later date, this office will, without any action on your part, provide all legal next of kin with full information and solicit their detailed desires.

Please accept my sincere sympathy in your great loss.

Sincerely Yours,
T.B. Larkin
Major General
The Quartermaster General

My grandfather wrote a letter to his local hometown paper, The Tri-County News...



In part, he wrote, "I would like to hear from anyone who would like to write to me. I would also like to hear from my brothers, Blaine and Harley, who are overseas somewhere in Germany." I'm not sure of the date of his writing and wonder if Harley was alive or had already been killed in action at that point.

At some point, my grandfather, Paul Forbes, was stationed near Achen, Germany and he was allowed to go visit the grave of his brother. This is a color picture he brought back of the United States Military Cemetery in Margarten, Holland...



This is a photo of Lee's grave in Holland...


There was a bush growing near the grave that he took as a place marker...


This is a picture of my grandfather standing over Lee's grave. Papa would have been about 25 years old...


Mama Forbes desired that her son be buried in the United States and she notified the United States Army of her desires on December 9, 1947 and the military began that process. On October 13, 1948, Lee's body was exhumed from Margarten Cemetery. His paperwork states that he was in his OD uniform which I assume is an Off Duty dress uniform. Condition of remains was listed as "advanced decompisition" and "fractured maxilla" and there was a note that "ID tag fond on remains while processing which reads: - Harley Forbes ASN 34997646." Upon questioning others, I discovered that when a soldier was killed in action, one of his two dog tags was removed and placed inside his jaw, clamped between his teeth. I believe the force of closing his mouth on the dog tag could have been what broke his jaw.

On January 10, 1949, his body was prepared for transport to Spruce Pine, North Carolina, USA. The paperwork for that date, states that the shipping case was "unsatisfactory" and the "case scratched - one clamp off". The casket was in "satisfactory" condition. His case was routed through the repair shop where the shipping case was repaired. His body arrived in Atlanta, Georgia and departed, via train, on Janary 21, 1949 at 1:00am. His escort was Sgt. William H. Nona. I would love to find out if he is still alive today. He is extended much gratitude for bringing my great grandmother's boy home.

Lee's body arrived at the Spruce Pine, North Carolin train station on the evening of January 21, 1949 and picked up by a representative from Webb Funeral Home. His body was finally put to rest at the Liberty Hill Baptist Church Cemetery... almost four years after his death. He had been through a war and had been a world away from his home of Spruce Pine, North Carolina and yet, in the end, his final resting place was within a few miles of the place he had spent most of his 19 years on this earth. This picture is of Mama and Daddy Forbes at the Liberty Hill Cemetery on the day they laid their boy to rest...


In this picture, Mama Forbes is leaning over his grave, his older sister, Euna Mae is kneeling at his grave with other family members standing around...


This is some of the family on the day he was buried...


Many years later, I took these photos at Lee's grave at Liberty Hill...




There were many years between his death and my birth; however, his story is important to me. I remember being a little girl when my grandfather sat down and told me Lee's story and showed me these pictures. He told me of his death... he told me of his trip to Margarten... and as a young child, I can remember this sense of importance that it held for Papa; therefore, it had to be important to me too. At some point, I was with Mama Forbes and she showed me the flag that draped his coffin. She opened up the flag and showed me some coins, a picture and dog tags... things that had been on his body when he died. She told me about him... that she was upset when he enlisted because he had lied about his age to get to enlist. Those memories, that I do have, are important and special to me. Lee never married... he never had a child... and there is a sense of urgency that his story did not die with him... that someone in the current generation remembers... tells his story... assures that he did not die forgotten or in vain. I will be his surrogate grandaughter and I will research and tell his story to other family members.

My goals regarding his story are:

1. To take a photo of Lee's flag and dog tag and see if the items from his pockets are still there so I can take pictures of those to put with my collection.

2. To get to my cousin's to get a copy of the letter that Mama Forbes had (Doug or Dean has this)

3. To find more pictures of troops during that time when he died and see if he is in them. With the new WWII memorial, I am sure pictures have surfaces that soldiers took

4. To see if the soldier who escorted his body "home" is still alive. I would love to thank him for that act of service.