World War II Honoree
Killed in World War II
Herman W. Mulligan, Jr.
Branch of Service
U.S. Marine Corps
Hometown
Laurens, South Carolina
Honored By
Orville L. Kline
Rank: Private First Class. On January 12, 1943, He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps from South Carolina. His boot camp training took place with the Seventh Recruit Battalion, Training Regiment; Marine Corps Base at Parris Island, South Carolina. Later he completed his Marine Combat Training at Camp Geiger, North Carolina. Served as a Rifleman with the Sixth Marine Division in the Northwest Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Lima Company, Third Battalion and Twenty-Second Marine Regiment. His division participated in the Battle of Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands against the Imperial Japanese and Naval forces (Battle Dates: Easter Sunday, April 1–June 22, 1945) Code Name: Operation Iceberg. Report missing in action Wednesday, May 30, 1945 after a Japanese large crypt loaded with ammunition exploded on Hill-27. His name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the Honolulu National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, ‘Punchbowl’ Hawaii. Later his missing in action status was amended to read killed in action. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, a Quartermaster Graves Registration Company, Quartermaster Corps conducted recovery operations and his remains were not recovered. In September of 1949 one set of remains were discovered on Hill-27, and were unidentifiable. The remains were interred as an unknown in the American Cemetery in Manila, Philippine Islands. A team from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action accounting Agency in May of 2017 disinterred the unknown from the Manila Cemetery. The remains were transferred to the agencies laboratory in Honolulu, Hawaii where he was identified. The remains of this Marine were interred with Military Honors, August 21, 2018 at the Arlington National in Arlington, Virginia. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.