 In 1945, Mamie received notice from the War Department informing her, without a full explanation, that her husband had been killed during army service in Italy.She later said that she was only told that his death was due to "willful misconduct" and noted that bureaucracy had frustrated her attempts to learn anything more.In fact, Louis Till had been court-martialed on charges of the murder of an Italian woman and the rape of two others in Civitavecchia, in Italy.