World War II Honoree

Mortimer Selwyn Zagury

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Corporal. Inducted into the United States Marine Corps August 19, 1940 and received his Basic Combat Infantry Training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Fifth Marines in Quantico, Virginia. Served in the Pacific Theater assigned to Headquarters and Service Battery, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, First Marine ‘the Old Breed’ Division. He participated in the invasion of Guadalcanal (Battle Dates: August 7, 1942-February 9, 1943), Code Name: Operation Watchtower, Solomon Islands Campaign. Killed in Action Saturday, August 29, 1942 during a combat engagement against the Japanese in the area of the Point Cruz Peninsula and buried in the United States Army, Navy and Marine Corps Cemetery on Guadalcanal. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, his remains were transferred to Honolulu, with interment in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, ‘Punchbowl’ Hawaii on January 11, 1949. In Honor and Memory, his name is inscribed in one of the Red Marble Tables on the Guadalcanal American Memorial. Decoration and Citation: The Purple Heart was awarded to this American Patriot posthumously, who so gallantly gave his life for his country.