Belle Nelson

Carmen R. Nelson Reflects on Father in the U.S. Army During World War II

Carmen R. Nelson-Holt is one of Cleveland's 'Moot' Nelson's seven children. Before his passing in 1994, Cleveland jokingly told her to go ahead and proceed with getting his diary published. The diary was Cleveland's personal assessment of the war but when it was over, it was carefully buried away, along with the past. Cleveland handed Carmen his diary, a spiral bound notebook filled with handwritten pages that were becoming yellow with age and very hard to read. Although it took several years for Carmen and her sisters to translate their dad's notes, its every page was a precious moment in time capturing the life of a dedicated soldier who dearly missed his loved ones yet knew that he had a tremendous duty to uphold.