World War II Honoree

Harris Kent Duff

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Denver, Colorado

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps at Denver, Colorado. His boot camp training took place with the Fourth 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 Sixth 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 Monday, November 22, 1943 on the Second 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. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.