World War II Honoree

Owen Clayton Avant

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Eustace, Texas

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private. On October 5, 1942, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps at Dallas, Texas. His Boot Camp Training took place with the Seventh Recruit Battalion, Training Regiment; Marine Corps Base in San Diego, California. Later he completed his Tank Training at the Fleet Marine Force Training Center, Camp Elliott Marine Corps Base in California. Served as a Tank Crewman with the Second Marine Division in the Central Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Charlie Company and Second Amphibious Tractor Battalion. 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. Reported missing in action, lost at sea Saturday, November 20, 1943 on the first day of the invasion. His name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the Honolulu National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, ‘Punchbowl’ Hawaii. In his Memory and Honor, a cenotaph memorial has been placed at the Payne Springs Cemetery in Payne Springs, Texas. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.