World War II Honoree

John Eddy Gillen

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Champaign, Illinois

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. Inducted into the United States Marine Corps February 10, 1942 at Chicago, Illinois, with recruit training assigned to the First Recruit Battalion Training Regiment; Marine Corps Base San Diego, California. Upon his graduation from Boot Camp, he was transferred to Camp Pendleton Oceanside, California for combat training. Served as a Rifleman and assigned to Dog Company, First Battalion, Sixth Marine Regiment and Second Marine Division. His division participated in the amphibious assault ‘Battle of Tarawa’ against the Imperial Japanese forces. Location: Central Pacific Theater of Operations. The combat engagement took place on the Island of Betio Location: Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands Operation Galvanic. Reported missing in action or buried at sea November 22, 1943. In remembrance of the brave, his name is recorded in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at Honolulu Memorial Location: Honolulu, Hawaii. In June of 2015 the history flight, a private organization, discovered a collective burial grave on Betio Island. The remains were transferred to the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency in Hawaii where he was identified. The family of this Marine requested that he be buried with Military Honors at Granville Catholic Cemetery Granville, Illinois, with interment August 12, 2020. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.