WWII Killed in Action List "E"
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S1c Joseph Douglass Egner was killed in action at Saipan on 16 June 1944. He served with the 121st Naval Construction Battalion. He was 29 years old. Egner was buried at the 4th Marine Division Cemetery, Saipan and reinterred at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, was entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal. |
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S1c John Ellington was killed in action from wounds received in enemy action at Peleliu on 18 September 1944. He served with the 17th Special Naval Construction Battalion. Ellington died aboard the USS Samaritan while being transported to a naval hospital and was buried at sea. Ellington is memorialized at the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, was entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal. |
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SF3c William Erickson was killed in action at Iwo Jima when a truck he was being transported in struck a land mine He served with the 106th Naval Construction Battalion. Erickson was buried at the 4th Marine Division Cemetery, Iwo Jima and reinterred at Saint Joseph Cemetery, River Grove, Illinois. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Navy Unit Commendation for the Battle of Iwo Jima, and was entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal. |
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LT Cecil Espy was killed in action while a Japanese POW, Philippine Sea, 17 February 1945. On 7 December 1941, ten Civil Engineer Corps officers were on duty in the Public Works Department of the Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines. Three of the officers, CDR James D. Wilson, CEC, USN, the Public Works Officer of the Navy Yard and Sixteenth Naval District; LTJG Daniel R. Dorsey, CEC, USNR; and ENS Robert B. Hollister, CEC, USNR, were either evacuated or managed to evade capture and eventually make their way to Australia. The remaining seven officers, LT James R. Davis, CEC, USN; LT Roy D. Gilbert, CEC, USNR; LT Benjamin D. Goodier, CEC, USNR; LT Jerry A. Steward, CEC, USNR; LTJG Cecil J. Espy, Jr., CEC, USNR; LT George H. Greenwood, CEC, USNR; and ENS William R. Yankey, CEC, USNR, were taken prisoner. Lt. Cecil J. Epsy Jr. was held as a POW in the Philippine Islands. In December 1944, he was boarded onto the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. The ship came under attack from American planes on December 14. As evening approached, the attack was called off. The next day the planes returned and continued the attack. The ship was sunk by American planes at Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, on December 15, 1944. The surviving POWs were boarded onto the Enoura Maru which sailed on December 27 and reached Takao, Formosa, by the New Year. While docked it was bombed by American planes on January 9, 1945, killing many of the POWs. The surviving POWs were boarded onto the Brazil Maru which sailed on January 13. Lt. Cecil J. Epsy Jr. died while aboard ship and buried at sea. LT Espy was posthumously awarded the Prisoner of War Medal, Purple Heart, and entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, the Asiatic- Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal and the Philippines Defense Ribbon. Read more about the Japanese "Hell Ships" of WWII: https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1944/oryoku-maru.html |
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S1c James Estill was shot by a sniper while carrying mortar ammunition at Guam on 25 July 1944. He served with the 2nd Special Naval Construction Battalion. Estill was buried at Army, Navy, Marine Cemetery #1, Guam, and reinterred at Fort Gibson National Cemetery, Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, was entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal. |
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MM1c Elza James Evans was killed in action at Iwo Jima from wounds received in enemy action on 4 March 1945. He served with the 133rd Naval Construction Battalion. MM1c Evans was buried at the 4th Marine Division Cemetery, Iwo Jima and reinterred at Fort Smith National Cemetery in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Navy Unit Commendation for the Battle of Iwo Jima, and was entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal. |
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CCM Robert Evans was killed in action at Rendova on 2 July 1943 while serving with the 24th Naval Construction Battalion. Evan was buried at Cemetery #1, Rendova, and reinterred at Alva Municipal Cemetery, Alva, Woods County, Oklahoma. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, was entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal. |
