World War II Honoree

George Boyd Chelf

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Denver, Colorado

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Corporal. Inducted into the United States Marine Corps June 14, 1941 at Denver, Colorado, with recruit training assigned to Fourth 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 Rifle Team Leader with Baker Company, First Battalion, Twenty-Seventh 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. On February 28, 1945 he was mortally wounded during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces, with burial in the Fifth 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 March 21, 1949. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.