World War II Honoree

Ray Eugene Backus

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Nelsonville, Ohio

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. On September 8, 1943, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps from Ohio. His boot camp training took place with the First Recruit Battalion, Training Regiment; Marine Corps Base in San Diego, California. Later he completed his Marine Combat Training at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California. Served in Regimental Weapons Company, Twenty-Third 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 Wednesday, February 28, 1945 and buried in the Fourth Marine Division battlefield cemetery on Iwo. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, the family of this Marine requested that his remains be transferred to Honolulu. He was laid to rest in the 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.