Petty Officer 3rd Class Vernon Martin was killed when a shell fragment struck his chest on May 15, 1945, as 6th Marine Division fought to take Sugar Loaf Hill on Okinawa. (Donna Piazza)
A Navy corpsman killed during the Battle of Okinawa will be the first American in five years added to a memorial on the island commemorating the battle.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Vernon Martin — a pharmacists’ mate with H Company, 3rd Battalion, 29th Marines, 6th Marine Division — will be added this month to the Cornerstone of Peace at Peace Memorial Park in Itoman city, Okinawa prefecture announced Monday.
His name joins those of 16 Okinawans and 325 from elsewhere in Japan going onto the memorial this year, according to a list the prefecture released Monday.
Martin, of Niles, Mich., was killed when a shell fragment struck him in the chest on May 15, 1945, as 6th Marine Division fought to take Sugar Loaf Hill in Okinawa’s capital city, Naha, according to his death certificate from the U.S. Navy.
Born Sept. 7, 1926, Martin enlisted on Sept. 24, 1943, according to his casualty report. He was one of eight children born to Dorothy and Roy Martin, his niece, Donna Piazza, who lives in Niles, said by phone Friday.
She learned from Stars and Stripes that her uncle’s name would be added to the memorial this year. Robert McGowan II, whose father served alongside Martin as a Marine sergeant and squad leader, worked with Marine Corps spouse Steph Pawelski to find the documents needed to add Martin’s name, McGowan said by phone May 4.
“I’m so glad he’s finally going to get there,” Piazza said.
Martin will be the first American added to the memorial since 2020.
The names will be etched before June 23, or Irei No Hi, the day when Okinawa remembers the end of the Battle of Okinawa, a spokeswoman for the prefectural Peace and Subnational Diplomacy Promotion Division said by phone Monday. This year marks the battle’s 80th anniversary.
Some Japanese government officials may speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
A Navy corpsman killed in the Battle of Okinawa will join another 341 names to be added this year to the Cornerstone of Peace at Okinawa Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa, Japan. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
Petty Officer 3rd Class Vernon Martin was killed when a shell fragment struck his chest on May 15, 1945, as 6th Marine Division fought to take Sugar Loaf Hill on Okinawa. (U.S. Navy)
A Navy corpsman killed in the Battle of Okinawa will join another 341 names to be added this year to the Cornerstone of Peace at Okinawa Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa, Japan. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
The memorial park marks the location of the battle’s final action. A memorial event takes place on that day each year at the site.
The Cornerstone of Peace was built in 1995, 50 years after the battle. The monument displays the names of nearly 250,000 who died during the fighting: 14,011 Americans and 227,977 Japanese.
Most of the 325 names being added from Japan’s main islands are of sailors who perished on the Imperial Navy battleship Yamato, which was once the largest battleship afloat.
The Battle of Okinawa began April 1, 1945, and lasted 82 days. More than 14,000 Americans, about 110,000 Japanese troops and at least 140,000 Okinawan civilians were killed during or after the fighting.
