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1st Battalion, 24th Marines from 1943 to 1945, nearly 3,000 Marines and Navy corpsmen served with this heroic battalion, from training as the 1st Separate Battalion (Reinforced) at New River; as part of the Fourth Marine Division at Camp Pendleton and Camp Maui; in combat at Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima; and at their final mustering out in October, 1945.
ERVIN, Arthur B, Sergeant, 285038, USMC, from Texas, Honolulu Memorial + ERVIN, Arthur B, 285038, CoA, 1stBn, 24thMar, 4thMarDiv, FMF, Marshall Is, July 5, 1944, missing-killed in action + ERVIN, Arthur B., Sgt., USMC. Wife, Mrs. Arthur B. Ervin, 649 West Ave. 28, Los Angeles, Calif + ERVIN, Arthur B, SGT, 285038, USMC, from Oklahoma, location Marianas Islands, date of loss July 5, 1944
Arthur B. Ervin Junior was born to Arthur and Willie Ervin of McCurtain, Oklahoma. His father was killed in a mining accident later that year. Ervin attended grammar and two years of high school in Los Angeles, after which he worked for the Los Angeles Examiner. Enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in June 1940, age 18. He was stationed with the guard detachment at the Ford Island Naval Air Station in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941. PFC Ervin was credited with participating in the defense of the base. After transferring to California, he became a member of E/22nd Marines, and traveled to Samoa for training. While there, he volunteered for the Third Raider Battalion, and with them participated in Operation Cleanslate (the invasion of Pavuvu). After contracting malaria, dengue fever, and filariasis, was transferred back to California for medical treatment. After release from the hospital, joined Company A, 24th Marines as a corporal commanding a machine gun squad. Landed on Namur, Kwajalein Atoll on February 1, 1944, where he won the Navy Cross and received a Purple Heart for wounds sustained in action. Returned to duty and promoted to sergeant in April, 1944. Appointed section sergeant of company's mortar section. Participated in the invasion of Saipan, where he was awarded the Bronze Star medal. Sergeant Ervin was killed in action on July 5, 1944, while attempting to rescue his commanding officer and close friend, First Lieutenant Philip Wood. For unknown reasons, he was buried as an Unknown in the Fourth Marine Division cemetery. After the war, Graves Registration personnel failed to identify his remains and officially listed as Missing In Action.
Other Comments:
Navy Cross
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Corporal Arthur B. Ervin (MCSN: 285038), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty while serving with Company A, First Battalion, Twenty-Fourth Marines, FOURTH Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces during the invasion of Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, on 1 February 1944. Advancing with his company around the eastern perimeter of the Island, corporal Ervin skillfully located and led the attack upon each hostile strong point in this zone of action. Although wounded in a single-handed assault upon an enemy heavy machine-gun nest, he returned to initiate a raid into an occupied blockhouse and, after climbing to a dangerously exposed position on its top, immediately poured rifle fire into a near-by Japanese trench fortification and exhorted his comrades to press home their attack. When painfully wounded for the second time, he gallantly refused to let anyone endanger himself by coming forward to help and, after pulling himself to safety and having his wounds dressed, retired only on the orders of his Commanding Officer. His determined fighting spirit and inspiring performance of duty throughout these bitter engagements reflect the highest credit upon Corporal Ervin and the United States Naval Service. General Orders: SPOT AWARD, Commander in Chief Pacific Forces: Serial 2788 Action Date: February 1, 1944
There is also a grave for him in:
Shady Point Cemetery,
Shady Point, OK
Eastern Mandates Campaign (1944)/Operation Flintlock/Battle of Roi-Namur Island
From Month/Year
February / 1944
To Month/Year
February / 1944
Description Japan took over in 1914 and colonised the Marshalls extensively, developing and fortifying large bases on many of the islands. Roi-Namur was the target of the U.S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944. During the Japanese occupation, the two islands were connected by a narrow neck of land and causeway. After the American occupation, US Navy SeaBees filled the area between the islands by December 1944; the two islands are now joined are presently called Roi-Namur with a total area of about one square mile.
