Verl Raymond Nelson was born May 11, 1921 in the small town of Benjamin, Utah to George Henry and Julia Ann Charlotte Rasmussen Nelson. Verl had several siblings including: Byron Edgar (born 1906), Charlotte Bernece (1908), William Henry (1910), Ida Leora (1913), Ruby (1915-died as an infant), Nettie Virginia (1917) and Kamis Leroy (1919).

Verl attended elementary school in the nearby town of Spanish Fork and graduated from Provo High School in 1940. He had also been a carrier and salesman for the Daily Herald (the local Provo newspaper).

Verl enlisted in the military in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 19, 1940. He was assigned to the 438th Troop Carrier Group of the 9th Troop Carrier Squadron. He trained in several places across the United States including: Stockton, California; Clovis and Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Dalhart, Texas. It was in Dalhart where he graduated with his flight officer commission and his wings on July 25, 1943. From there, he went to Bowman Field, Kentucky and Camp Mackall, North Carolina before being shipped overseas. While in Kentucky, Verl was married to Ella Irene Pruitt on June 19, 1943. Ella was from Missouri and lived in St Louis at the time of Verl’s death.

The notice of Verl’s death that appeared in the Daily Herald stated that he had been shipped to England on March 1, 1944. His family received their last letter from him which was dated June 3.

Verl was a pilot of C-47 transport planes and was shot down on D-Day presumably with all of the paratroopers who were on board his plane. Verl’s brothers William Henry and Kamis Leroy also served in WW2. William was in the Ordnance Division of the Army in New Guinea while Kamis was in France.

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 smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Verl R Nelson