World War II Honoree

Harold William Ball

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Brooklyn, New York

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Corporal. On March 26, 1943, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps from New York. His boot camp training took place with the Fifth Recruit Battalion; Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, South Carolina. Later he completed his Marine Combat Training at Camp Geiger, North Carolina. Served in Company-B, Third Amphibian Tractor Battalion, and a subordinate unit of the Third Marine ‘the Fighting Third’ 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. He died of wounds that he had encountered on the battlefield, and buried at sea Monday, February 19, 1945. His name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the Honolulu National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific ‘Punchbowl’ Hawaii. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.