World War II Honoree

John Joseph O'Brien

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Platoon Sergeant. While stationed at Parris Island, North Carolina, he re-enlisted into the United States Marine Corps for the Third time on July 17, 1942. Served in the Pacific Theater of Operations and experienced combat as a Weapons Platoon Section Leader, assigned to Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, a subordinate unit of the Fourth Marine ‘the Fighting Fourth’ Division. He participated in the amphibious assault on the Island of Saipan (Battle Dates: June 15-July 9, 1944) Mariana Islands Campaign. Killed in action Saturday June 17, 1944 and buried in the Fourth Marine Division Battlefield Cemetery on Saipan. He had fought in a previous Combat Operation/Campaign: The Battle of Kwajalein. 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. His name has been etched on one of the Twenty-Six granite plates ‘Remembrance of the Brave’ located in the Court of Honor at the American Memorial on Saipan. Decoration and Citation: This Marine, an American Patriot, awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, who so gallantly gave his life for his country.