World War II Honoree

Herbert J. F. Clawson

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Shelbyville, Illinois

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. On April 23, 1942, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps at Saint Louis, Missouri. His boot camp training took place with the Third 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 Twenty-Second Marine Regiment in the North Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Golf Company, Second Battalion and Fifth Amphibious Corps. His regiment participated in the Battle of Eniwetok Atoll (Battle Dates: February 17-23, 1944) Code name: Operation Flintlock, Marshall Islands Campaign. Killed in Action Friday, February 18, 1944 during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces on the Island of Engebi, and buried in the Coral Sands battlefield cemetery on Kirinian Island. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, the family of this Marine received his remains for burial, interred in an unknown cemetery. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.