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| PFC Donald Lasco, 1st Marine Division, earned the Navy Cross at Peleliu. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/134144082/donald-lasco https://www.reddit.com/r/Colorization/comments/8gdtrr/battle_of_peleliu_1st_marine_division_1944/ |
Donald Lasco never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on May 30, 1919 in Amhurst, Ohio. His parents John and Elizabeth were both born in Hungary. His father worked as a steel plant laborer and later as a millwright. Donald had one older brother and seven older sisters. By 1940 Donald had completed two years of high school and was living with his parent who were farming.
He enlisted in the US Marines in December 1941. He became a private first class in Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, which was nicknamed “The Old Breed”. The 1st Marine Division deployed to New Zealand in June 1942 in preparation for combat operations in the South Pacific. On 7 August 1942 the 1st Marine Division landed at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, the first major ground offensive of the war. After four months of intense combat, the 1st Marines were relieved and went into garrison in Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia to rest and refit. The 1st Marines went back into action in December 1943 at Cape Gloucester, and then assaulted Peleliu on September 15, 1944.
PFC Lasco served with his unit from Guadalcanal to Peleliu. On October 1 the 1st Marine Division was undertaking the difficult assignment of taking out Japanese troops defending overlapping ridges. Units suffered losses of over 70 percent. PFC Lasco was killed in action this day while single-handedly charging a Japanese machine-gun position.
He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. The citation reads as follows:
The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Donald Lasco (352109), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism as Leader of a Fire Team serving with the Third Battalion, Seventh Marines, Fist Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces at Peleliu Island, Palau Group, on 1 October 1944.
Dispatched to assist in the capture of a high ridge vital to his company's mission, Private First Class Lasco was courageously leading his men forward across an open road when a sudden burst of machine-gun fire halted the advance of his team and severely wounded one of its members. In a valiant attempt to draw the fire away from his fallen comrade and locate the hostile emplacement, he boldly stood upright in the face of the intense barrage, seized an automatic weapon and, fearlessly advancing through the fire-swept area, single-handedly charged the Japanese position, but while directing effective fire against the enemy, was fatally wounded by a shell from a second hostile machine gun.
By his aggressive leadership, his indomitable fighting spirit and exceptional fortitude in the face of extreme peril, Private First Class Lasco served as an inspiring example to his comrades, and his self-sacrificing efforts and unwavering devotion to the completion of an extremely hazardous mission were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
His grave is at Calvary Cemetery in Lorain, Ohio.
If anyone can find a photo of Donald Lasco, please let me know.
Last year on this date I profiled Silver Star hero Clarence Aschenbrenner, USS Marblehead. You can read about Clarence 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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