World War II Honoree

Victor Maurice Daman

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Harpers Ferry, Iowa

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. On December 15, 1942, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps from Iowa. 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 Company-B as a Rifleman, First Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment, and a subordinate unit of the Second Marine Division in the Central Pacific Theater of Operations. His division participated in the amphibious assault against the Imperial Japanese forces in the Battle of Tarawa. The combat engagement took place on the Island of Betio, located on the Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands Code Name: Operation Galvanic. Killed in Action Saturday, November 20, 1943 on the first day of the invasion, and buried in the Lone Palm Cemetery on Betio Island. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, his family requested that his remains be transferred to Honolulu. He was laid to rest January 31, 1949 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, ‘Punchbowl’ Hawaii. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice defense of his country.