4/18/1945
2LT Arthur J. Zellmer, CPT George Clifford “Clifford” Sarauw, T/SGT Francis H. Zurn, and T/5 CPL Elmer J. Craddock were killed, and T/5 CPL Raymond J. Rondeau was presumed killed on 18 April 1945. They were assigned to 92nd Ordnance (Bomb Disposal) Squad. They were participating in the assault landing on Ie Jima (also called Ie Shima), Okinawa when their landing craft detonated a landmine. The 92ndOrdnance (Bomb Disposal) Squad had been patrolling for mines southwest of Ie Jima, where these obstacles had been thickest, discouraging Navy supply craft from landing. 2LT Zellmer was posthumously awarded the Soldier’s Medal, Bronze Star Medal with Second Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with five campaign stars, and the Philippine Liberation Medal.
Additional Facts: Service Number: O2012571; Born: 11 Jan 1913; Age: 32; Hometown: Lone Wolf, Oklahoma; Buried: National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl National Cemetery), Honolulu, Hawaii, Plot: N, Row: 0, Grave: 688
*This bio was researched and authored by SGM Mike R. Vining, USA (Retired) with supporting research from the books, Nine from Aberdeen, by Jeffrey M. Leatherwood, Ph.D., and Bomb Disposal, The Early Years of Explosive Ordnance Disposal, 1940 to 1949, by LTC Robert E. Leiendecker, USA (Retired)