PACIFIC: Corp. Latham Wounded

(March 16, 1945) – Cpl. Robert H. Latham of the 4th Division, U.S. Marine Corps. has written his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Arch A. Latham of 511 Centre street under the date of Feb. 27, that he was wounded at Iwo Jima and is now in an Army hospital out of the combat area. He told his parents that he could not tell them of the extent of his wounds but he did say that he and his fellow Marines were getting the best of care.

Cpl. Latham had previously taken part in the invasions of Roi and Namur in the Marshall Islands, also Saipan and Tinian in the Marianas and had come through without a scratch, although in the thick of battle throughout.

He was graduated from Nutley High school in February 1941 and enlisted in the Marines in September 1942.
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(April 11, 1945) – A Japanese mortar shell which landed in his foxhole on Iwo Jima terminated 15 months of fighting in the Pacific for Marine Corp. Robert Latham, 23, now on his way with 180 other casualties from a U.S. Naval hospital in California to a hospital in Philadelphia for convalescence.

Latham was in charge of an ammunition detail with a machine gun platoon and had been on Iwo two days when he was so seriously wounded that it necessitated his foot being amputated while in a shell hole by a medical corpsman.

During his ordeal, his parents learned, Cpl. Latham lighted and passed out cigarettes to other Marines who had also been wounded. Later at a hospital on Saipan where his left leg was amputated, he met the same medical corpsman, wounded at a later date, who said that it was Cpl. Latham’s composure which had enabled him to perform the operation without cracking up himself.

Source: The Nutley Sun

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Copyright © 2010 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved. Photos and content may not be used for commercial purposes without written permission.

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PACIFIC: Emil Liloia

April 13, 1945) - Word has been received by Mr. and Mrs. Vito Frank Liloia of Passaic avenue that their son, Pfc. Emil M. Liloia, 21, USMC, was killed in action March 1 on Iwo Jima while serving with the 3rd Marine division.

Born in Belleville, Pfc. Liloia came to Nutley when he was three. He went through Nutley schools and while in high school starred on the football team. He was voted the best athlete of the year.

He received a scholarship to Temple University in Philadelphia and had played there only one year when he went into service.

Pfc. Liloia has four sisters, Ann, Ruth, Marie and Dorothy. A brother, SK 3/c Pat Liloia, has been in the Navy two and one half years and is at present on an oil tanker in the South Pacific.

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PACIFIC: Norman Bell

Private Norman R. Bell, USMC, was killed in action on Iwo Jima on Feb. 20, 1945. Pfc. Bell is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Bell, Brookline Avenue.

Born in Brooklyn, he entered the Marines from New York. His service number is 00924143.

Bell was a BAR gunner who joined Able Company as a replacement after the Tinian campaign.

He was killed on the second day of the battle of Iwo Jima as his company performed mop-up duties along the beaches

He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Presidential Unit Citation with one service star, and the Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Ribbon. Pvt. Bell is listed on the Honolulu Memorial Honolulu, Hawaii.

Sources: ABMC, American Legion Post 70 Memorial; National Archives & Records Administration; The Nutley Sun; Geoff Roecker: Able Company, 24th Marines

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Copyright © 2010 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved. Photos and content may not be used for commercial purposes without written permission.

Nutley Sons Honor Roll, Nutley, N.J.
4th Edition ordering information

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