World War II Honoree

George Richmond Bailey

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Santa Monica, California

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps July 24, 1940 at San Francisco, 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. After the completion of his combat training, he was selected to attend Sea School at San Diego. Served aboard the USS Arizona Battleship, BB-39 and based at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. On Sunday Morning, December 7, 1941 the Empire of Japan’s Naval Aviators launched a devastating, surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base, and other military installations on Oahu. The Arizona moored on Ford Island along with her shipmates came under attack, and she was mortally wounded by an armor piercing bomb that ignited the ship’s forward ammunition magazine. The Battle of Pearl Harbor took his life on the day of the attack, and interred in the Oahu Nuuanu Cemetery, Territory of Hawaii. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, the family of this Marine requested that his remains be buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific ‘Punchbowl’, with interment January 31, 1949. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.