| NAME: Joseph Belekanic |
NICKNAME: Joe |
SERVICE NUMBER: 305403 |
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| HOME OF RECORD: Lorain, OH |
NEXT OF KIN: Father, Mr. George Belekanic |
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| DATE OF BIRTH: 4/23/1922 |
SERVICE DATES: 5/14/1942 – 5/14/1946 |
DATE OF DEATH: 6/28/1978 |
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| CAMPAIGN | UNIT | MOS | RATE | RESULT | |||
| Roi-Namur | H&S/24 | 650 | Corporal | ||||
| Saipan | H&S/24 | 641 | Corporal | WIA | |||
| Tinian | In Hospital | — | — | ||||
| Iwo Jima | H&S/24 | 641 | Sergeant | ||||
| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS: Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK: Sergeant |
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Joseph Belekanic was born in 1922, and raised in Lorain, Ohio. He was the youngest of George and Anna Belekanic’s three sons; not much is known about George Junior, but Michael and Joseph both attended and graduated from Lorain High School. Joseph was even elected vice president of the 1940 graduating class.
When the United States entered World War II, both Mike and Joe Belekanic joined the service. Mike went to the Army in January 1942, while Joe chose the Marines that May.
After completing boot camp in June, Private Belekanic was ordered to Quantico, Virginia for a course in field communications – specifically, telephone school. He had a knack for the complicated wiring and equipment, and was promoted to Private First Class in September, 1942. Belekanic served with various telephone companies at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina until March, 1943, at which point he joined Headquarters and Service Company, 24th Marines as a switchboard operator and received a second promotion to corporal.
Joe Belekanic would serve with the 24th for the duration of the war. He ran his switchboard on Roi-Namur, ran telephone lines on Saipan (a dangerous job; he was wounded in action) and oversaw wiring details on Iwo Jima as a three stripe sergeant. In the very last weeks of the war, Belekanic was transferred from regimental headquarters down to HQ, First Battalion; he would have made the invasion of Japan with them, but fortunately the war ended before such a landing was necessary.
Belekanic served out the rest of his hitch, receiving his discharge four years to the day after he enlisted. He returned to his family in Lorain; brother Mike survived the Army, but father George had passed away in 1944. Two years of Pacific adventures were enough for Joe Belekanic – he lived in his hometown until his death in 1978.