World War II Honoree

Lee Jay Curl

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Speers, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

RANK: SERGEANT. HE WAS A UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS GUNNER, WHO SERVED ON THE MARINE PBJ-1 BOMBER (A VARIANT OF THE MITCHELL B-25 BOMBER) IN THE PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS. THIS AVIATOR EXPERIENCED COMBAT, WHILE ASSIGNED TO THE MARINE BOMBING SQUADRON FOUR-THIRTEEN ‘VMB-413’, NICKNAMED ‘THE FLYING NIGHTMARES’, MARINE AIR GROUP-SIXTY ONE, THIRD MARINE AIRCRAFT WING. HIS SQUADRON WAS BASED ON CANTON ISLAND ATOLL LOCATED IN THE PHOENIX ISLAND GROUP. ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1944 HE AND HIS FIVE CREW MEMBERS WERE REPORTED MISSING ON A FLIGHT FROM CANTON TO THE ISLAND OF TUTUILA, THE LARGEST AND MAIN ISLAND OF AMERICAN SAMOA. REPORTED AS MISSING IN ACTION, LOST AT SEA TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 1945 AND HE IS MEMORIALIZED IN THE TABLETS OF THE MISSING, HONOLULU NATIONAL MEMORIAL CEMETERY OF THE PACIFIC, ‘PUNCHBOWL’ HAWAII. DECORATION AND CITATION: THIS MARINE, AN AMERICAN PATRIOT, WAS AWARDED THE PURPLE HEART FOR HIS ULTIMATE SACRIFICE IN DEFENSE OF HIS COUNTRY.