Tucker, Nion Robert, Jr., 1stLt

MIA/POW
 
 Service Photo 
 Service Details
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Last Rank
First Lieutenant
Last Primary MOS
0302-Infantry Officer
Last MOSGroup
 Infantry
Primary Unit
1944-1945, 0302, 1st Bn, 28th Marine Regiment (1/28)/B Co
Service Years
1943 - 1945
Official/Unofficial USMC Certificates
Golden Dragon Certificate

First Lieutenant

 
 

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 Personal Details 

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State of Birth
California
California
 Year of Birth
1921
 
This Military Service Page was created/owned by Cpl Robert 'Bob' Allen (usmc987332)-Deceased to remember Marine 1stLt Nion Robert Tucker, Jr..

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 Official Badges 


 Unofficial Badges 

Order of the Golden Dragon


 Military Association Memberships
World War II Fallen
  1945, World War II Fallen


 Additional Information
Last Known Activity
1st Lt Nion Robert Tucker, Jr.
B/1/28th Marines
Wounded in action (fragment, abdomen) at Iwo Jima, February 19, 1945; died of wounds February 25, 1945
   
Other Comments:
Silver Star
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to First Lieutenant Nion R. Tucker, Jr. (MCSN: 0-25241), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Leader of a Rifle Platoon attached to Company B, First Battalion, Twenty-eighth Marines, FIFTH Marine Division in action against enemy Japanese forces during the seizure of Iwo Jima, in the Volcano Islands on 19 February 1945. Confronted by the enemy's solid coordinated system of defenses shortly after hitting the beach in the initial landing wave, First Lieutenant Tucker boldly led his unit in a frontal assault against strong fortifications delivering concentrated mortar, machine gun and artillery fire in the beach area and charging four pill boxes and an almost impregnable block house with fierce aggressiveness, succeeded in destroying all five of the enemy strong points as he advanced 300 yards across the beach. With his platoon reduced to one-third its original strength when he discovered that his company commander had become isolated with the remnants of another platoon and was lying seriously wounded under intense enemy fire approximately 400 yards to the left, he unhesitatingly led the remainder of his squad in a second assault, repeatedly exposing himself to the merciless blasts of deadly gun fire as he smashed through the surrounding pill boxes and reached the besieged group. Again risking his life to direct the last of his men into a position of comparative safety, he was fatally struck by a burst of shrapnel and collapsed where he stood. An able and inspiring leader, First Lieutenant Tucker by his daring tactics, cool decision and dauntless courage in the face of overwhelming odds aided materially in the reestablishment of his company. His valiant devotion to duty during this critical phase of the action was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
Action Date: February 19, 1945
   
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Western Pacific Campaign (1944-45)/Battle of Iwo Jima
Start Year
1945		 End Year
1945

Description
The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945), or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire. The American invasion had the goal of capturing the entire island, including its three airfields (including South Field and Central Field), to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II.

After the heavy losses incurred in the battle, the strategic value of the island became controversial. It was useless to the U.S. Army as a staging base and useless to the U.S. Navy as a fleet base. However, Navy SEABEES rebuilt the landing strips, which were used as emergency landing strips for USAAF B-29s. 

The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km (11 mi) of underground tunnels. The Americans on the ground were supported by extensive naval artillery and complete air supremacy over Iwo Jima from the beginning of the battle by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators.

Iwo Jima was the only battle by the U.S. Marine Corps in which the Japanese combat deaths were thrice those of the Americans throughout the battle. Of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, some of whom were captured because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled. The majority of the remainder were killed in action, although it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 continued to resist within the various cave systems for many days afterwards, eventually succumbing to their injuries or surrendering weeks later.

Despite the bloody fighting and severe casualties on both sides, the Japanese defeat was assured from the start. Overwhelming American superiority in arms and numbers as well as complete control of air power — coupled with the impossibility of Japanese retreat or reinforcement — permitted no plausible circumstance in which the Americans could have lost the battle.

The battle was immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of the 166 m (545 ft) Mount Suribachi by five U.S. Marines and one U.S. Navy battlefield Hospital Corpsman. The photograph records the second flag-raising on the mountain, both of which took place on the fifth day of the 35-day battle. Rosenthal's photograph promptly became an indelible icon — of that battle, of that war in the Pacific, and of the Marine Corps itself — and has been widely reproduced.
   
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Year
1945		 To Year
1945
 
Last Updated:
Feb 12, 2016
   
Personal Memories
   
Units Participated in Operation

5th Marine Division

23rd Marine Regiment

1st Bn, 21st Marine Regiment (1/21)

2nd Bn, 25th Marine Regiment (2/25)

25th Marine Regiment

VMTB-242

1st Bn, 28th Marine Regiment (1/28)

1st Bn, 26th Marine Regiment (1/26)

5th Engineer Bn

5th Marine Division

3rd Bn, 9th Marine Regiment (3/9)

23rd Marine Regiment/1st Bn, 23rd Marine Regiment (1/23)

23rd Marine Regiment/2nd Bn, 23rd Marine Regiment (2/23)

23rd Marine Regiment/3rd Bn, 23rd Marine Regiment (3/23)

3rd Bn, 27th Marine Regiment (3/27)

VMO-5

3rd Combat Engineer Bn

2nd Bn, 21st Marine Regiment (2/21)

21st Marine Regiment

3rd Bn, 21st Marine Regiment (3/21)

3rd Bn, 26th Marine Regiment (3/26)

2nd Separate Engineer Bn

USS PRESIDENT JACKSON (T-AP-18)

2nd Bn, 12th Marine Regiment (2/12)

26th Marine Regiment

3rd Amtrac Bn

MARDET USS Yorktown (CVS-10)

MAG-45

1st Bn, 27th Marine Regiment (1/27)
 
My Photos From This Battle or Operation
No Available Photos

  2020 Also There at This Battle:
More...  
  • Adams, John F, Cpl, (1943-1946)
  • Ahlquist, Earle Norris, PFC, (1944-1945)
  • Aiken, Luther L, Cpl, (1943-1946)
  • Akee, Dan, SgtMaj, (1943-1946)
  • Alexander, Howard Eugene, Cpl, (1943-1946)
  • Allen, Robert 'Bob', Cpl, (1944-1946)
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