World War II Honoree

David Samuel Peckinpah

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Fresno, California

Honored By

John Peterson

IN 1943, HE JOINED THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS. WITHIN TWO YEARS, HIS BATTALION WAS SENT TO CHINA WITH THE TASK OF DISARMING JAPANESE SOLDIERS AND REPATRIATING THEM FOLLOWING WWII. WHILE HIS DUTY DID NOT INCLUDE COMBAT, HE WITNESSED ACTS OF WAR BETWEEN CHINESE AND JAPANESE SOLDIERS. THESE INCLUDED SEVERAL ACTS OF TORTURE AND THE MURDER OF A LABORER BY SNIPER FIRE. THE AMERICAN MARINES WERE NOT PERMITTED TO INTERVENE. HE WAS SHOT DURING AN ATTACK BY COMMUNIST FORCES.