Naming the fallen of Iwo Jima

See individual stories below for photo references.

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Iwo Jima. The raising of the flag on Mt. Suribachi became one of the enduing images of the Second World War. The American marines paid a high price for this victory - casualties exceeded 26,000 of which there were nearly 7,000 deaths.

While this milestone anniversary will get a lot of attention, sadly few references will be made about any of the individuals who did not come home. Since the WW2 Fallen 100 project began more than three years ago, the names of the Iwo Jima fallen have appeared with sobering regularity.

Here are the stories of some of the Iwo Jima fallen:

• Dr. Lt. Claude Arnett, 5th Marine Division, Kentucky, died on February 19 while giving aid to the wounded on the land beach.
• Pvt. Ray Backus, 4th Marine Division, Ohio, died on February 28.
• Navy Cross hero Sgt. Paul Balducci, 5th Marine Division, Illinois, died on February 21.
• Medal of Honor and Navy Cross hero Sgt. John Basilone, 5th Marine Division, New Jersey, died on February 19. He was the only enlisted man to earn both of these awards in WW2. His story is the most popular one written for this project.
• Silver Star hero Captain Hugh Breakenridge, 4th Marine Division, Iowa, died on February 27.
• Pvt. James Elvington, 4th Marine Division, South Carolina, died on March 6.
• PFC Edward Gill, 3rd Marine Division, Missouri, died on March 6.
• Seabee Seaman John Grudzina, New Jersey, died on February 19.
• Sgt. Samuel Hancock, 5th Marine Division, Colorado, died on February 25. His brother who was serving in the Philippines was killed four days earlier.
• Sgt. Henry Hansen, 5th Marine Division, Massachusetts, died on March 1. He was one of the original Mt. Suribachi flag raisers. 
• Silver Star hero Sgt. John Kirby, 5th Marine Division, Georgia, died on February 22. He commanded a flamer thrower tank.
• Silver Star hero Sgt. Floyd Klemme, 5th Marine Division, Oklahoma, died on March 3. His brother Howard, in the same regiment, died on February 22.
• Pvt. Russell Lee, 5th Marine Division, Utah, died on February 20.
• Sgt. Henton Lockley, 4th Marine Division, died on February 19.
• Silver Star hero Captain James Mayenschein, 5th Marine Division, Ohio, died on February 28.
• Sgt. Wyatt Percell, 5th Marine Division, Kansas, died on February 20.
• PFC Neal Snell, 5th Marine Division, Alabama, died on March 13. By this point his division had lost 62% of its men.
• Navy Cross hero Sgt. Thor Thostenson, 5th Marine Division, Minnesota, died on March 1.
• Navy Cross hero Sgt. William Van Dyke, 5th Marine Division, Michigan, died on February 22.
• Silver Star hero Sgt. Edmund Yanoushek, 3rd Marine Division, Texas, died on February 28.

The WW2 Fallen 100 project is transitioning to The Stories Behind the Stars project. Instead of just having one story a day about one of the fallen, the new project plans to complete stories of all 400,000+ of the USA WW2 fallen. While this is an ambitious project, it would only require as few as 50 people per state on average to get this done.

If you would like to learn more about helping with this project, please visit https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org. Help us tell the stories of ALL the fallen from Iwo Jima and everywhere else.

WW2 Fallen 100 is supported by

The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation

“Where Every Day is Memorial Day”

http://www.tggf.org