World War II Honoree

Ralph Marsh Douglas

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Rupert, Idaho

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. On October 20, 1941, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps from Idaho. His boot camp training took place with the Second 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 Second Marine Division in the Northwestern Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Fox Company, Second Battalion and Sixth Marine Regiment. His division participated in the amphibious assault against the Imperial Japanese Army forces on the island of Saipan, (Battle Dates: June 15-July 9, 1944). He died of wounds that he had encountered on the battlefield, and buried at sea Sunday, June 18, 1944. 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.