World War II Honoree

Joseph T. Zazzetti

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Chicago Heights, Illinois

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private. On December 7, 1942, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps at Chicago, Illinois. His boot camp training took place with the Seventh 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 Charlie Company and Second Amphibian 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 Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.