World War II Honoree
Killed In Action
Thomas Alton Young
Branch of Service
U.S. Marine Corps
Hometown
South Coventry, Connecticut
Honored By
Orville L. Kline
Rank: Sergeant. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps March 20, 1939 at Hartford, Connecticut, with recruit training at the Marine Barracks Parris Island, South Carolina, and infantry training at Camp Geiger, North Carolina. He served as a Platoon Leader, assigned to Bravo Company, First Battalion, Twenty-Sixth Marines and an element of the Fifth Marine Division. His division participated in the amphibious assault, and occupation of Iwo Jima Island Location: Western Pacific Theater of Operations. On Tuesday, March 6, 1945 he was killed in action, during offensive operations against the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces. Personnel from a Graves Registration Company buried him in the Fifth Marine Division Iwo battlefield cemetery. In the post-war era, this Marines’ family requested that he be buried with Military Honors at the Nathan Hale Cemetery Located at Coventry, Connecticut. In his Memory and Honor, he received the following Decorations posthumously: Silver Star and the Purple Heart. The Silver Star was awarded to this Marine for Distinguished Gallantry in Action and Valor in Combat against an enemy force, and the Purple Heart for his Heroism and ultimate sacrifice.