World War II Honoree

Walter Holger Young

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps January 15, 1942 at Minneapolis, Minnesota, with recruit training at the Marine Corps Base in San Diego, California, and infantry training at Camp Pendleton Oceanside, California. He served as a Rifleman, assigned to Bravo Company, First Battalion, Second Marines and an element of the Second Marine Division. His division participated in the amphibious assault on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll Gilbert Islands Code Name: Operation Galvanic Location: Central Pacific Theater of Operations. On Saturday, November 20, 1943 he was mortally wounded, during offensive operations against the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces, with burial in the Betio Lone Palm battlefield cemetery. In the post-war era, this Marines’ family requested that he be buried with Military Honors at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery located at Minneapolis, Minnesota, with interment October 29, 1947. In his Memory and Honor, this American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his Heroism and ultimate sacrifice.