World War II Honoree

Francis Herbert Cronkhite

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Kankakee, Illinois

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. On January 26, 1942, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps from Illinois. His boot camp training took place with the Thirteenth 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 as a Rifleman with the Fifth Marine Division in the Western Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to the Twenty-Seventh Draft Replacement, an element of the division. 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, March 14, 1945 and buried in the Fifth 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.