World War II Honoree

Raymond Frank Wicker

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Asheville, North Carolina

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private. On September 12, 1942, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps from North Carolina. His boot camp training took place with the Third Recruit Battalion Training Regiment, Marine Corps Base at Parris Island, South Carolina. Later he completed his Marine Combat Training at Camp Geiger, North Carolina. Served as a Rifleman with the Twenty-Second Marine Regiment in the North Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Fox Company, Second Battalion and Fifth Amphibious Corps. His regiment participated in the Battle of Eniwetok Atoll against the Imperial Japanese armed forces, (Battle Dates: February 17-23, 1944) Code name: Operation Hailstone, Marshall Islands Campaign. Killed in Action Tuesday, February 22, 1944 on the Island of Parry, and buried in the Coral Sands battlefield cemetery on Kirinian Island. 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 January 28, 1949 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.