Marion Wayne Lovell

Their Story

Marion Wayne Lovell was born on March 18, 1925, in the small town of Franklin, Illinois, to Charles Bryant Lovell and Almeda Pearl Roberts Lovell.^[1]  Marion went by his middle name Wayne. He had two brothers and a sister. Franklin, Illinois, located in Morgan County, has always had a small population.  When Wayne was 15 in 1940, Franklin had a population of only 515 people.  His father was a farmhand in 1940.^[2]

On his 18th birthday on March 18, 1943, Wayne filled out a registration card for the selective service.  He was employed by Pernall McNeeley at that time.^[3] Starting on January 1 of that year, it was required that all males on their 18th birthday fill out a registration form for the draft.   In 1943, 3,323,970 people were inducted into the United States Military.  This consisted of men aged 18-45.  Over the course of six years, from 1940 to 1946, there were over 50 million registrations for the draft and over 10 million of these were inducted into the United States Military.

Wayne was involved in the invasion of Normandy in France, commonly known as D-Day.  D-Day was a military operation carried out by the Allies, mainly by Great Britain, Canada, and the United States.  On June 6, 1944, the Allies attacked Normandy, France, at five different beachheads.  American troops attacked Utah and Omaha beaches, the British attacked at Gold and Sword, and Canada attacked at Juno.  After the invasion of Normandy, the Allies continued to push toward Germany.  While doing this, the Allies helped liberate the country of France from Nazi occupation.  Although the Allies moved into Europe, Germany would not fall for almost a year on May 8, 1945.

While serving in the Army, Wayne received three awards: the Purple Heart, the Silver Star, and the Bronze Star.  Wayne was injured during the war, so the Army awarded him the Purple Heart.  The Silver Star is the third-highest military decoration for valor in combat.  Wayne finished his career at the rank of staff sergeant, which is a non-commissioned officer who usually heads a squad. He was discharged on October 20, 1945.^[4]

Shortly after coming back from Europe, he worked at Blackhawk Foundry in Davenport, Iowa,^[5] and married Elsie Darlene Brown in Jacksonville Illinois, in 1946.  They had a daughter and a son, Ronald, who passed away at 7 days old in 1947 in Passavant Hospital.^[6] In 2006, they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. 

Wayne became a quality control inspector for Deere & Co. and worked there for 33 years.  Family was everything for Wayne. In his free time, he went fishing or caught a baseball game with his grandsons.  Wayne also took part in the American Legion, belonging to Moline’s post 246.  He also was a lifelong member of the Memorial Christ Church in Rock Island where he served as elder emeritus.  Wayne passed away on May 1, 2006, at Friendship Manor’s Silver Cross, Rock Island, after a long illness.  He is buried in the Rock Island National Cemetery in plot W-91.

Marion Wayne Lovell’s memorial page – Honor Veterans Legacies at VLM (va.gov)

^[1] Marion Wayne “Wayne” Lovell (1925-2006) – Find a Grave Memorial

^[2] Ancestry.com – 1940 United States Federal Census

^[3] Page 1 WWII Draft Registration Cards – Fold3

^[4] Page 1 WWII Draft Registration Cards – Fold3

^[5] 10 Oct 1970, 14 – The Rock Island Argus at Newspapers.com

^[6] 06 Feb 1947, Page 12 – The Jacksonville Daily Journal at Newspapers.com