Harold Gene Brunson

Marine Corps Reserve | Service Number 552461

Born

January 11, 1927
in Kinney, IL

Parents

Wilbur Rhea Brunson (d. 1928)
Mabel Evelyn (Newman) Brunson

School

Decatur Vocational School (1944)

Pre-War Employment

High school student

Entered Service

January 19, 1944
at Chicago, IL

Joined First Battalion

September 18, 1944
from Fourth Replacement Draft

Left First Battalion

February 25, 1945
Killed in action at Iwo Jima

Left Service

February 25, 1945
Killed in action

Home Address and Next of Kin

128 Longview Place, Decatur, IL – home of mother, Mrs. Mabel Brunson

Service & Campaigns

Before joining battalion

Boot camp at MCRD San Diego with Eighth Recruit Battalion. To Third Replacement Draft at Camp Pendleton, California, summer 1944; transferred to Fourth Replacement Draft for transit overseas.

Joined Able Company, First Battalion, 24th Marines at Camp Maui on 18 September 1944.

Iwo Jima

Outfit: A/1/24th Marines
Rank: Private
MOS: 746 (Automatic Rifleman)
Important Events:
February 25, 1945 – killed in action (shrapnel wounds, back and head); exact circumstances unknown
March 9, 1945 – buried in Plot 1, Row 26, Grave 1258, Fourth Marine Division Cemetery

Campaign Narrative