World War II Honoree

Francis W. Eastman

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Windsor, Vermont

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Field Music First Class. On November 19, 1942, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps from Vermont. His boot camp training took place with the Thirteenth 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 with the Twenty-Second Marine Regiment in the Territory of Hawaii, assigned to Headquarters Company, Second Battalion and Fifth Amphibious Corps. He died in the Line of Duty during a training accident, while participating in field maneuvers on Pauwela Point, Hawaii. Two U.S. Navy SBD-Dauntless Dive Bombers carrying live ordnance collided over the Point on December 6, 1943, and one bomb was dislodged, detonating among the trainees. Twenty Marines lost their lives and twenty five were injured from this incident. This Marine was interred in the Makawao Cemetery, Wailukii, Hawaii. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, the family received his remains for burial, with interment at the Edminister Cemetery in Cornish, New Hampshire.