World War II Honoree

Emil P. Grosz, Jr.

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Washington, District Of Columbia

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. Inducted into the United States Marine Corps October 26, 1943 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with recruit training assigned to the Eighth 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. Following basic and advanced infantry training, he served as a Rifleman with Golf Company, Second Battalion, Twenty-Sixth Marine Regiment and Fifth 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. He died of wounds encountered on the battlefield February 26, 1945, during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces, with burial in the Fourth Marine Division battlefield cemetery on Iwo. Succeeding hostilities with Japan, his family requested that he be buried with Military Honors at Arlington National Cemetery Location: Fort Myers, Virginia. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.