ALBANY, N.Y.—Dorothy Hollingsworth was just 7 when her brother Tom left the family farm in Indiana to join the Army a few months before the United States entered World War II. She never saw him again.
Now, more than 70 years after Pfc. Thomas E. Davis was killed in the war’s final battle, a tangible reminder of her beloved sibling has been found on the Pacific island of Saipan — one of his Army dog tags.
“He was a great guy,” said Hollingsworth, 82, who lives outside Dayton, Ohio, noting that some of her earliest memories are of the tall, thin sibling 17 years her senior who always sat next to her at the dinner table. “He was always laughing and singing and whistling.”
This undated photo provided courtesy of David Hollingsworth shows World War II Pfc. Thomas E. Davis. Davis Army dog tag was found in early 2014. Davis earned one of the nation's highest military honors after surviving the bloody fighting on Saipan only to die during the even bloodier battle for Okinawa nearly a year later. Courtesy David Hollingsworth via AP
