World War II Honoree

Joel Young Neal

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

San Diego, California

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Corporal. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps August 18, 1942 from California. 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 as a Rifle Team Leader with the Fifth Marine Division in the Western Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to a Weapons Company, First Battalion and Twenty-Seventh 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 Monday, February 19, 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 March 14, 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.