World War II Honoree

Louis Wiesehan, Jr.

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Richmond, Indiana

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. Inducted into the United States Marine Corps February 9, 1942 at Indianapolis, Indiana, with recruit training assigned to the Sixth Recruit Battalion Training Regiment; Marine Corps Base San Diego, California. Upon his graduation from Boot Camp, he was transferred to Camp Pendleton Oceanside, California for combat training. Served as a Rifleman assigned to Fox Company, Second Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment and Second Marine Division Location: Central Pacific Theater of Operations. His division participated in the amphibious assault against the Imperial Japanese forces in the Battle of Tarawa. The combat engagement took place on the Island of Betio Location: Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands Code Name: Operation Galvanic. Reported missing in action or buried at sea Sunday, November 21, 1943 on the second day of the invasion. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at Honolulu Memorial Location: Honolulu, Hawaii. In June of 2015 the history flight, a private organization, discovered a collective burial grave on Betio Island. The remains were transferred to the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency laboratory in Honolulu where he was identified. The family of this Marine requested that he be buried with Military Honors at Goshen Cemetery Richmond, Indiana on April 18, 2020. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.