World War II Honoree

Robert Eugene Franciskato

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Independence, Missouri

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Field Musician First Class. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps December 9, 1942 from Missouri. 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, First Battalion and Eighth 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 Sunday, November 21, 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. In his Memory and Honor, a cenotaph memorial has been placed at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Lexington, Missouri. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.