World War II Honoree

Bernard Sherman Cluzen

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Lonepine, Montana

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Major. A United States Marine Corps Pilot, who flew the F4U-1A Corsair Fighter/Bomber. Assigned to Marine Attack Squadron, VMF-Two Twenty-Four, And Marine Aircraft Group (MAG Thirty-Three), Third Marine Aircraft Wing. His unit was based at Dyess Army Airfield, a military installation on Roi-Namur, Kwajalein Atoll Location: west-central Pacific Theater of Operations. As a Flight Leader, his squadron departed Dyess Airfield October 8, 1944 on a bombing mission against Imperial Japanese gun emplacements on Enyebor Island, Jaluit Atoll. During the Squadron’s return to base, the flight encounters a heavy tropical storm. Reported missing in action or lost at sea on the day of the mission, ultimately declared killed in action January 24, 1946. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at Honolulu Memorial Location: Honolulu, Hawaii. In his Memory and Honor, a cenotaph memorial has been placed at the Murray Memorial Cemetery Location: Lonepine, Montana. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.