World War II Honoree

Raymond A. Pickering

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Saint Louis, Missouri

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. Inducted into the United States Marine Corps December 9, 1942 at Saint Louis, Missouri, with recruit training assigned to the Sixth Recruit Battalion Recruit Depot; 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 Alpha Company, First Battalion, Sixth Marine Regiment a subordinate unit of the Second Division Location: Central Pacific Theater of Operations. His division participated in the amphibious assault on the Island of Betio, Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands Code Name: Operation Galvanic. Reported missing in action or buried at sea November 22, 1943, during combat operations against the Imperial Japanese forces. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at Honolulu Memorial Location: Honolulu, Hawaii. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.