World War II Honoree

James Arthur Wilson

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Mantua, Ohio

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class. Served as a Navy Corpsman, Combat Medic with the Fourth Marine Division in the Northwestern Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Headquarters Company, Second Battalion and Twenty-Fourth Marine Regiment. His division participated in the amphibious assault on the island of Saipan, (Battle Dates: June 15-July 9, 1944) Marianas Islands. Killed in action Thursday, June 15, 1944 during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces, and buried in the Fourth Marine Division 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 Navy Corpsman received his remains for burial, and re-interred in an unidentified cemetery in Ohio. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.