World War II Honoree

Harvey Payne Fry

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Birmingham, Michigan

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps February 19, 1943 at Detroit, Michigan. His boot camp training took place with the Seventh 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 Fifth Marine Division in the Western Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Hotel Company, Second Battalion and Twenty-Sixth Marine Regiment. His division participated in the amphibious assault on the Volcanic Island of Iwo Jima (Battle Dates: February 19-March 26, 1945) Code Name: Operation Detachment. Killed in Action Wednesday, February 21, 1945 during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces, and buried in the Fifth Marine Division battlefield cemetery on Iwo. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, the family of this Marine requested that his remains be transferred to Honolulu. He was laid to rest January 27, 1949 in the 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.