Branch of Service
U.S. Marine Corps
Hometown
Chiloquin, Oregon
Honored By
Orville L. Kline
Rank: Private First Class. On July 30, 1941, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps from Oregon. 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 Central Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Bravo Company, First Battalion and Eighth Marine Regiment. 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 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.