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| Pvt. Russell Lee, 5th Marine Division, was killed on the second day of the Battle of Iwo Jima when the marines were attacking Mt. Suribachi. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=54429061&ref=acom https://www.pinterest.com/explore/mount-suribachi/?lp=true |
Russell Edwin Lee never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on November 9, 1917 in Utah. His father was also born in Utah while his mother was from Kansas. His father worked as a rancher and later as a state road office clerk. Still later he was a truck driver. Russell had an older brother and sister and four younger brothers (who all served in the military) and a younger sister. By 1940 Russell had completed four years of high school and moved from home to Los Angeles where he worked as a laborer.
He married Renee McElvey and they had one son.
He was inducted into the service on February 19, 1944. He became a private in the 5th Joint Assault Signals Company, 5th Marine Division. Pvt. Lee would have been one of the first marines who landed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945 because JAS Co troops were tasked with coordinating air and naval gunfire support for the marines on the beaches.
On D+1 the 5th Marines focused on taking Motoyama Airfield #1 and starting the difficult task of scaling the well defended Mt. Suribachi. Casualties on the second day of the battle were higher than on day one. One of those killed was Pvt. Lee.
His grave is at Provo City Cemetery in Utah. His widow remarried after his death and his son would join the Marines.
Pvt. Lee's story is also told at https://www.fold3.com/page/653599902-russell-edwin-lee/stories. It is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project, Utah pilot.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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