World War II Honoree

John Albert Wilson

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Redwood City, California

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private. On July 7, 1942, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps at Detroit, Michigan. His boot camp training took place with the Sixth 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 with the Second Marine Division in the Central Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Alpha 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. He died of wounds encountered on the battlefield Saturday, November 20, 1943 and buried at sea. 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.