June 15 marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Saipan. It will not receive the same attention as D-Day, but it still played a very important role in the road to winning the war.
Due to the victory on Saipan, the Americans captured an island close enough to send B-29 bombers to bring the war directly to Japan. The bombers that carried the atomic bombs that forced the Japanese to finally surrender were based on Saipan.
The Battle of Saipan cost nearly 3,500 American lives (and around 30,000 Japanese lives).
In 2019, few Americans know about the Battle of Saipan and even fewer know about the fallen who paid the price for the victory. Over 29 months, this project has profiled 18 of the Saipan fallen.
Here they are in the order they lost their lives:
Sergeant Jack Shelly, Ohio, 2nd Marine Division. Died June 15, the first day of the battle, probably from friendly fire. Earned the Bronze Star. Read about Jack here.
PFC Edward Buckshot, Illinois, 2nd Marine Division. Died June 16. Read about Edward here.
Sergeant Robert McCard, New York, 4th Marine Division. Died June 16. Earned the Medal of Honor while saving his tank crew when surrounded by the Japanese. Read about Robert here.
Frank Sheehan, Colorado, 2nd Marine Division. Died June 16. Read about Frank here.
PFC Cleave Sinor, Arkansas, 27th Infantry Division. Died June 17. Named by the War Department as one of the 20 outstanding heroes of the Battle of Saipan and was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. Read about Cleave here.
Corporal Ernest Carey, Indiana, 2nd Marine Division. Died June 18. He was awarded the Silver Star. Read about Ernest here.
Captain Thomas Clarke, Iowa, 4th Marine Division. Died June 19. He was award the Navy Cross for his extraordinary heroism during the five days he commanded Charlie Company. Read about Thomas here.
Private Hubert Hoenck, California, 4th Marine Division. Died June 22. Read about Hubert here.
Sergeant Bernard Bova, New York, 27th Infantry Division. Died June 24 in what became known as Death Valley. Read about Bernard here.
PFC Donald Mikeles, Indiana, 27th Infantry Division. Died June 27. Read about Donald here.
Sergeant Leon Aliano, New York, 27th Infantry Division. Died June 30 when his unit captured Purple Heart Ridge. Read about Leon here.
Lieutenant John Creel, Louisiana, 2nd Marine Division. Died July 2. Read about John here.
Lieutenant Holstein Harvey III, Delaware, 27th Infantry Division. Died July 2. He was awarded the Silver Star. Read about Holstein here.
PFC William Priddy, Ohio, 27th Infantry Division. Died on July 7, the date of the most deadly Japanese Banzai attack of the war. Read about William here.
Sergeant Frederick Timmerman, Kansas, 2nd Marine Division. Died July 8. Earned the Medal of Honor on the next to last day of the battle. Read about Frederick here.
Private Carmelo Parsi, New York, 27th Infantry Division. Died July 9. Served as a medic. Read about Carmelo here.
Sergeant Perry McElreath, Texas, 4th Marine Division. Died July 9. Read about Perry here.
Private Gerald Larsen, Utah, 4th Marine Division, Died July 12 while the Americans were mopping up the Japanese soldiers still in hiding. Read about Gerald here.
| Most people get to these stories from a very popular social media site. That website cut traffic to my blog by 80% last October. Recently it has taken further steps to block my efforts to share these stories. No explanation was given. There may come a time that I will no longer be able to share them at all. Here is what you can do to help: 1. Scroll to the bottom of this page and either subscribe to the daily post or follow via email. 2. Share the URL on your social media. It should not have the same restrictions coming from you as it does from me. Who would have thought that a project meant to honor our WW2 Fallen would be treated like spam? |
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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