World War II Honoree

Kenneth Arnold Dunham

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Claremore, Oklahoma

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps July 29, 1943 from Oklahoma. His boot camp training took place with the Fifth 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 Sixth Marine Division in the Northwest Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Baker Company, First Battalion and Twenty-Second Marine Regiment. His division participated in the Battle of Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands (Battle Dates: Easter Sunday, April 1–June 22, 1945) Code Name: Operation Iceberg. Killed in action Thursday, May 31, 1945 during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces, and buried in the Sixth Marine Division battlefield cemetery on Okinawa. 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 3, 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.