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| Pfc. Neal Snell, 5th Marine Division, left behind a wife and daughter. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28459098 https://www.emarinepx.com/product/SPU-5DIV.html |
Neal Cuthbert Snell never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 25, 1917 in Alabama. His parents were also both born in Alabama. His father worked as a farmer. Neal had one younger sister. By 1940 Neal had completed four years of high school. He was living with his parents and sister and worked as a salesman. Prior to his military service, Neal married Francis Dick. They had one daughter, likely born in 1943.
He enlisted in the Marines on December 4, 1943. He became a private first class in Company I, 3rd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division which was activated one month earlier. The 5th Marine Division left for the Pacific in January 1945. It landed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945, the first day of battle. It was men from the 28th Marine Regiment who raised the famous flag on Mt. Suribachi, though they were in the 2nd Battalion.
The 5th Marine Division was engaged in combat for 36 days. It had the highest casualty rate among the three Marine divisions that fought on Iwo Jima. Nearly 2,500 5th Marines were killed and another 6,200 plus were wounded. A Marine Division had about 10,000 men.
By March 13, Pfc. Snell had been in combat for 22 days. The division was down to 38% combat efficiency. The 28th Marine Regiment was ordered to capture a ridgeline that was heavily fortified with pillboxes and spider traps and was honeycombed with many caves. It was a tough assignment for a depleted force, even though it was reinforced. The attack was successful but Pfc. Snell was one of the men who died making it happen.
His grave is at Asbury United Methodist Church Cemetery in Asbury, Alabama. His widow remarried after his death. She died of cancer in 1961 at age 39. His daughter would be around 74 years old if still alive.
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!
To mark having over 100,000 visits to my project to honor the fallen of WW2 on their 100th birthdate, I created this video to share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY. Now more than 200 fallen have been profiled with more than 200,000 visits. Is there interest in seeing a similar video highlighting those from the group of second 100?
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
There were sure a lot of fine men lost on Iwo Jima. Thanks for introducing us to PFC Neal Snell.
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