May be you come across some javascript error and upon typing some entry in date field and onblur the entry is wiped off.
else you might come across the following script error:
Uncaught TypeError: Cannot call method 'init' of undefined
(anonymous function)
runScripts
doUpdate
response
onComplete
AjaxEngine.req.xmlReq.onreadystatechange
The solution to this issue is copy the following code into your web.xml file and run, surprisingly you don't see this script error.
<context-param>
<param-name>org.icefaces.mandatoryResourceConfiguration</param-name>
<param-value>dateTimeEntry</param-value>
</context-param>
<param-name>org.icefaces.mandatoryResourceConfiguration</param-name>
<param-value>dateTimeEntry</param-value>
</context-param>