Harold Morton Weaver

Harold Weaver, born and raised in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, was a student at Kent State when he entered the Marine Corps in December 1941.

He initially deployed overseas as a member of Dog Company, 1st Marines, and fought in the battle of Guadalcanal. A serious bout of malaria sent him back to the United States in January 1943; after recovering, Weaver was assigned to the newly-formed 25th Marines as a corporal in Mike Company. He trained with this heavy weapons outfit at Camp Pendleton, California and rose to the rank of sergeant, but transferred from the unit on the eve of their departure for combat. Weaver would eventually be reassigned the First Marine Division – specifically L/3/7th Marines – and went on to fight at Peleliu until wounded by shrapnel. He recovered quickly and returned to the company as a platoon sergeant in time to land on Okinawa.

On 4 May 1945, 3/7th Marines held a reserve position near the village of Iso as the Japanese military launched a massive, coordinated counterattack against the American lines. Although not at the epicenter of the attack, the battalion was subjected to a terrible bombardment – either by artillery or aircraft – that killed at least fifteen men in Love Company alone. The bodies were collected and buried over the next two days. Some were so badly mangled as to be unidentifiable; in a few cases, multiple men were buried together under a single name.