World War II Honoree

John Cashman

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Queens, New York

Honored By

Pearl Thomas

Reenlisted in the Navy in 1942. In May 1942, he lost his arm as a result of an ammunition explosion while he was on sea duty in the Atlantic. He then became a war correspondent for the International News Service and was sent to Guam and then to Manila, where he accompanied a regiment into battle in the Borneo invasion. While returning to his INS headquarters on Guam from Borneo, he had reached Okinawa on July 30, 1945. On July 31, the plane he was aboard crashed and exploded on takeoff, killing everyone on board. He was the 17th war correspondent killed in the Pacific Theater of Operations.