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| Sgt. Willie Graves served in the 3rd Marine Division during the recapture of Guam. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32862056/willie-edmond-graves https://www.pinterest.com/pin/510877151472511564/ |
Willie E. Graves never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on September 13, 1918 in Mississippi. His parents Edmond and Lillie Mae were also both born in Mississippi. His father worked as a farmer. Willie had an older sister, a younger sister, and two younger brothers. He married Edna Earle Ray.
He enlisted in the Marines in 1937. After a year he was allowed to go home due to the ill health of his mothers, but he was called back to active service in 1941.
He was deployed to Iceland in July 1941 and served there for nine months. He was moved to the South Pacific in February 1943. He became a platoon sergeant in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 21st Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. The 3rd MD fought at Bougainville in November 1943.
Sgt. Graves participated in the 3rd MD's next assignment which was the retaking of Guam. The Marines landed on July 21, 1944. Sgt. Graves was killed the next day, perhaps during one of the Japanese night infiltrations.
His grave is at Hazlehurst Cemetery in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. I don't know what happened to his widow.
Last year on this date I profiled tugboat cook Melvin Meyer. You can read about Melvin here.
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.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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