World War II Honoree

Joseph William Zutz

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Osseo, Wisconsin

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps July 3, 1942 from Wisconsin. 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 as a Rifleman with the Second Marine Division in the Northwestern Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Headquarters Company, Second Battalion and Sixth Marine Regiment. His division participated in the amphibious assault on the island of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. Killed in action Thursday, June 15, 1944 on the first day of the invasion during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces, and buried in the U.S. armed forces battlefield cemetery on Saipan. His name has been etched on one of the Twenty-Sixth granite plates, located in the court of Honor, American Memorial on Saipan. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, the family of this Marine received his remains for burial. He was laid to rest with Military Honors, February 4, 1949 at the Westlawn Cemetery in Norridge, Illinois. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.