Leo Milton Gray was born on March 16, 1922 to David Gray and his wife Alice (Hodgson). Leo and his brothers, Eugene and Richard, grew up in Volinia, Michigan where their father was a farmer. A 1941 graduate of Central High School, Leo enlisted in the United States Navy on June 30, 1942. Standing 5’10 tall and weighing 145 pounds, the hazel-eyed brunette with a scar in the center of his forehead left his home and his job at the machinery manufacturing company Allis Chalmers, to fight World War II.

Verna Marie Cusick was born on Aug. 23, 1924 to William and Mary Cusick. Verna grew up in Johnston, Rhode Island where her father worked as a mail carrier for the United States government. Verna graduated from St. Thomas Junior High School and St. Xavier High School in Providence – where she took part in numerous activities including French Club, typing club, science club, and serving as class treasurer – in 1942. On Sept. 1, 1942, she was admitted to the Rhode Island Hospital as a student nurse. Exactly one year later, she was admitted to the Cadet Nurse Corps program at the hospital. The program which trained nearly 120,000 nurses, was established that year to address the nursing shortage brought about by the war. Cadets pledged to serve in civilian or federal government services for the duration of the war. Verna was scheduled to graduate on Sept. 20, 1945.

Three months after Verna graduated, Leo received his discharge from the military. During his 34 months of active service, he had spent most of that time in the Pacific. Leo went back home to Michigan to visit his family for a few weeks before moving to Rhode Island where he had secured a job in Providence. He and Verna met and, on June 1, 1946, they married. Leo’s mother traveled to Rhode Island for the wedding and then returned home to Mich. It was planned that the young couple would enjoy a honeymoon in Tenn. as they traveled to their new home in Decatur, Mich. where Leo had secured a job as a carpenter.

On June 13, 1946, twelve days after the wedding, Leo was driving a motorcycle with Verna seated on the back. At about 2:00 that afternoon, they approached an intersection near Dandridge, in Jefferson County, Tenn. approaching at the same time was a Ford truck. The two vehicles collided. While Verna received only minor injuries, her new husband suffered multiple contusions and compound fractures and was rendered unconscious. He died three days later at 12:05 a.m. without ever waking up. He was laid to rest at Cavalry Cemetery in Dowagiac, Mich.

Verna returned to her parents’ home on Riverside Drive in Johnston. The 22-year-old widow worked as a registered nurse in private homes. The tragic twist of fate was irony at its worst – young Leo Gray had survived three years in the throes of a violent war only to lose his life soon after – here in America, in the arms of the young woman he loved.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.