World War II Honoree

Joseph J. Zaleski

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Reeds Ferry, New Hampshire

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private 1st Class. On May 11, 1943, he entered the United States Marine Corps from New Hampshire, receiving his Basic Combat Infantry Training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island South Carolina. Deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations, where he served as a Rifleman assigned to Able Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment a subordinate unit of the Second Marine 'the Silent Second' Division. Experienced combat in the Battle of Saipan. He participated in the amphibious assault on the island of Tinian (Battle Dates: July 24–August 1, 1944) Mariana Islands Campaign. Killed in action Wednesday, August 9, 1944 during mop-up operations after all organized resistances had ceased and buried in the Marine Corps Battlefield Cemetery on Tinian. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, they returned his remains to his family for burial, with interment in the Holy Trinity Cemetery in Goffstown, New Hampshire. In Remembrance and Honor of the Brave, his name appears on one of the Twenty-Six granite plates located in the Court of Honor at the American Memorial on Saipan. This Marine, an American Patriot, awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, who so gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.