World War II Honoree

Robert Daniel O'Brien

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Shamokin, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private 1st Class. Inducted into the United States Marine Corps January 8, 1943 at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and received his Basic Combat Infantry Training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. Deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations where he experienced combat with the Thirty-Third Replacement Battalion attached to the Sixth Marine ‘Striking Sixth’ Division. He participated in the Battle of Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands (Battle Dates: Easter Sunday, April 1–June 22, 1945) Code Name: Operation Iceberg. Killed in Action Monday, May 21, 1945 and buried in the Sixth Marine Division Battlefield Cemetery on Okinawa. The eighty day battle has been described as ‘The Typhoon of Steel’ and became the largest amphibious assault of WWII. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, his remains were returned to his family, with interment in the Saint Edwards Cemetery in Shamokin, Pennsylvania on April 2, 1949. This Marine, an American Patriot, so gallantly gave his life for his country.