World War II Honoree

Herman Robert Graeter

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Dayton, Ohio

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private. Inducted into the United States Marine Corps from Ohio, with recruit training assigned to the Fifth 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. Following basic and advanced infantry training, he served as a Rifleman with the Thirty Fourth Replacement Draft Battalion an element of the Third 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 March 13, 1945 he was mortally wounded during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces, with burial in the Third Marine Division battlefield cemetery on Iwo. Succeeding hostilities with Japan, his family requested that he be buried with Military Honors at Honolulu Memorial Cemetery Location: Honolulu, Hawaii, with interment February 15, 1949. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.