In June of 1944 2Lt Martelia Taylor was assigned to an Army hospital in England when she wrote a heartfelt letter to her mother in Alabama, in part which read:

“In case I get home you will never read this, but if I don't get home I know you will want to get in this old travel-worn locker of mine. Then you can read this when you know I won't be back or you can read this and know the love in my heart for the life I've known. For having such a home and Mother, I can truthfully say I've lived richly and abundantly.”

The young Army nurse never mailed the letter, instead saving it with her belongings in her locker. Ironically, as she predicted in her heartfelt words, she didn't return home.

The letter was printed in an article in the Jackson Sun (Tennessee) on Veteran's Day, 2005. Janie McCartney, also a former Army nurse, who had served overseas with her sister, Martelia, shared her memories of D-Day and the tragic loss of her sister six months later.

Martelia Taylor was born on January 14 1920 in Alabama to William J. and Addie Taylor. William was born during the Civil War and was a widower when he married Addie Mae. The couple would have eight children, five daughters and three sons. Martelia was the third oldest child. In the 1930 census the family lived in Ridge, Fayette County, Alabama, where William was listed as a farmer.

Martelia's father died in 1938 and Addie Taylor was listed as a widow in the 1940 census, age 45, with five children under the age of 18, including seven-year old twin boys. In the 1940 census Martelia is listed as a student nurse at Talladega. Her younger sister, Janie, followed in her footsteps and obtained her nurse's training at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.

Martelia passed the Alabama State Board in May 1942 after graduating from Citizen's Hospital Nurses School. She enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps one month later, in June 1942. After Jane finished her schooling, Martelia encouraged her younger sister to join the Nurse Corps, so that the two could serve together.

In early 1944 the sisters were sent overseas to England while preparations were made for the coming invasion.

After six months in England, the sisters were reassigned to France to take care of the wounded soldiers from the front, an experience recalled by Janie in 2005 in the news article. 2Lt Taylor was assigned to the 48th General Hospital.

On December 4, 1944, 2Lt Taylor, on a leave of absence from the war front, was out with a group of friends when they were involved in a car accident in Paris. 2Lt Taylor was killed, along with two other people. She was 24 years old. Her sister, Jane, was informed the next morning.

2Lt Taylor was repatriated in 1948 when her body was finally brought back to Alabama. Her funeral was held on October 30, 1948 at Rideout Chapel in Birmingham, Alabama with Rev. G. H. Patterson officiating. The VFW provided the pallbearers and military rites at the grave site. She was buried at Elmwood Cemetery, block 22, lot 159, in Birmingham. 2Lt Taylor was the first female from Alabama who died overseas during the war.

2Lt Taylor's sister, Janie, served 20 months overseas. Her brother, Wayman, served in the Navy from 1953-1955.

2Lt Taylor's locker and belongings were returned to her mother, who undoubtedly found the letter that her daughter had written and never mailed.

Thank you for your service and sacrifice, 2Lt Taylor. You will not be forgotten.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org**). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

If you noticed anything I missed in this profile, please go to the end of this story and see “Added by” to find my contact information.

SBTSProject/Alabama/Jefferson

References:

1930 U.S. Federal Census

1940 U.S. Federal Census

U.S., Find a Grave Index

Alabama, U.S., WWII Military Dead and Wounded, 1944-1946

U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1970

U.S., Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939-1945

Newspapers.com - Fayette County Times - 30 Aug 1945 - Page 1

Newspapers.com - Talladega Daily Home and Our Mountain Home - 26 Oct 1948 - Page 3

Newspapers.com - The Birmingham News - 28 Oct 1948 - Page 49

Newspapers.com - The Birmingham News - 3 Jun 1944 - Page 6

Newspapers.com - The Birmingham News - 31 May 1942 - Page 2

Newspapers.com - The Decatur Daily - 24 Oct 1948 - Page 9

Newspapers.com - The Jackson Sun - 11 Nov 2005 - Page 1

Newspapers.com - The Jackson Sun - 11 Nov 2005 - Page 4