World War II Honoree
Killed In Action
Festus Laverne Hailey
Branch of Service
U.S. Marine Corps
Hometown
Frenchman Bayou, Arkansas
Honored By
Orville L. Kline
Rank: Corporal. Inducted into the United States Marine Corps August 11, 1942 at Little Rock, Arkansas, with recruit training assigned to the Fourth Recruit Battalion Training Regiment; Marine Corps Base Parris Island, South Carolina. Upon his graduation from Boot Camp, he was transferred to Camp Geiger, North Carolina for combat training. Served as a Rifle Team Leader and assigned to Lima Company, Third Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marine Regiment and Fourth Marine Division Location: Western Pacific Theater of Operations. His division participated in the amphibious assault on the Volcanic Island of Iwo Jima (Battle Dates: February 19-March 26, 1945) Code Name: Operation Detachment. On February 19, 1945 he was mortally wounded, during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces, with burial in the Fourth Marine Division battlefield cemetery on Iwo. Succeeding hostilities with Japan, the family of this Marine requested that he be buried with Military Honors at Maple Springs Cemetery Location: Mercer, Tennessee. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.