World War II Honoree

Vail Eton Osburn

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Pilot Point, Texas

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Corporal. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps, January 19, 1942 at Dallas, Texas. 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 with the Twenty-Second Marine Regiment in the Territory of Hawaii, assigned to Fox 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 Stony Point Cemetery in Altoga, Texas.