World War II Honoree

John Robert Gonda

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Everson, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Private First Class. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps February 24, 1942 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with recruit training assigned to the Seventh Recruit Battalion Training Regiment; Marine Corps Base at Parris Island, South Carolina. Upon his graduation from Boot Camp, he was transferred to Camp Geiger, North Carolina for combat training. Served as a Rifleman with the Twenty-Second Marine Regiment in the North Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Easy Company, Second Battalion and Fifth Amphibious Corps. His regiment participated in the Battle of Eniwetok Atoll (Battle Dates: February 17-23, 1944) Code name: Operation Flintlock, Marshall Islands Campaign. Killed in Action Saturday, February 19, 1944 during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces on the Island of Engebi, and buried in the Coral Sands battlefield cemetery on Kirinian Island. 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 January 24, 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.