World War II Honoree

Charles E. Casko

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Flushing, New York

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private. On June 13, 1944, he entered the United States Marine Corps from New York, receiving his Boot Camp Training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. Later he completed his Marine Combat Training at Camp Geiger, North Carolina. Served in Company-C as a Rifleman, First Battalion, Twenty-Eighth Marine Regiment, and a subordinate unit of the Fifth Marine ‘the Spearhead/Fighting Fifth’ Division in the Western Pacific Theater of Operations. His division participated in the amphibious assault against the Imperial Japanese Army and Naval forces on the Volcanic Island of Iwo Jima (Battle Dates: February 19-March 26, 1945) Code Name: Operation Detachment. Killed in Action Thursday, March 8, 1945 and buried in the Fifth Marine Division battlefield cemetery on Iwo. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, his family received his remains for burial, with interment at the Flushing Cemetery in Flushing, New York. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.