World War II Honoree

Harry M. O'Neill

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Darby, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: First Lieutenant. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps June 30, 1942 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His boot camp training took place with the Twelfth Recruit Battalion Training Regiment; Marine Corps Base at Parris Island, South Carolina. Later he completed his Marine Combat Training at Camp Geiger, North Carolina. Commissioned a Second Lieutenant in January of 1943 upon his graduation from the Officer Candidate School ‘OCS’ at the Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. Served as an Infantry Officer with the Fourth Marine Division in the Western Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to a Regimental Weapons Company and Twenty-Fifth 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 Tuesday, March 6, 1945 during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces, and buried in the Fourth Marine Division battlefield cemetery on Iwo. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, the family of this Marine received his remains for burial. He was laid to rest January 5, 1949 at the Arlington National Cemetery in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.