World War II Photos:
Benny Jessie Gilliam
Private Benny Gilliam joined C/1/24th Marines right out of boot camp. Exactly one month later, he was sailing from San Diego bound for combat in the Central Pacific. He would not return home to Henderson, Tennessee for two long years.
Gilliam fought on Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. Although wounded in multiple places by shrapnel, he returned to Charlie Company and witnessed the end of the war at Camp Maui. Most of his photos were taken during that last summer of the war.
All photos courtesy Kelly Ryan Gilliam.
- Served With: Charlie Company
- Collection Timeline: 1944 – 1945
- Locations: Camp Maui
Boot Camp, San Diego, 1943.
The pictures below were taken at Camp Maui in the first week of October 1945, days before the Fourth Marine Division sailed for California. This is known because several of the men shown – veterans of multiple battles, with the battalion since 1942 or 1943 – had been transferred to garrison duty during the summer months. With the end of their service fast approaching, these Marines were offered the chance to travel back to the States with their original outfit. There are quite a few smiles as old buddies, reunited after months apart, contemplate going home. Some will be civilians again within a month.
Also present are a handful of replacements who joined the company after Iwo Jima and saw no combat. Almost all of these men stayed in Hawaii, serving with various depot and administrative units until their own discharges in 1946 or 1947.
Unfortunately, only about half of the men in these pictures have been identified.
