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COL Anthony MacDonald
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Marine Cpl Arthur Warner Kathan, Jr..
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Contact Info
Home Town Meriden, New Haven Co, CT
Last Address 1900 N. Broad St., Meriden, New Haven Co, CT
Date of Passing Feb 06, 1999
Wall/Plot Coordinates Prospect Town Cemetery, New Haven County, CT
HE SERVED AS AN ENGINEER WITH THE FIRST MARINE DIVISION IN PELELIU FROM SEPTEMBER 15 TO 28, 1944 AND OKINAWA FROM APRIL 4, 1945 TO JULY 2, 1945.
Other Comments:
Arthur W. Kathan Jr.
MERIDEN - Arthur Warner Kathan Jr., 76, of 1900 N. Broad St., diedSaturday, Feb. 6, 1999, at Yale New Haven Hospital.
Mr. Kathan was bornJan. 18, 1923, in New Haven, son of the late Arthur Warner and Madeline (Lapointe) Kathan. He worked as a welder for Cuno Engineering in Meriden until he retired and also taught welding at Goodwin Technical School. He was Marine veteran of World Was II, serving in Guadalcanal, and was a member of VFW Post 591 in Wallingford. He was a member of Prospect Congregational Church and the ConnecticutTriumph Registry. For many years he played in a country western band.
He leaves a son, Glenn Kathan of Oklahoma; two daughters, Madeline Kathan Laviana of Waterbury and Patrice Kathan Gromen of Meriden; two half brothers, Boardman Kathan and Charles Kathan of Prospect; a sister, Dorothy Small Charon of Texas ; and a half sister, Priscilla Kathan of New Haven; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
The funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday from Buckmiller Brothers Funeral Home, 26 Waterbury Road, Route 69, to Prospect Congregational Church for services at 11. Burialwill be in Prospect Cemetery at the family's convenience. Calling hours are 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the Kidney Foundation of Connecticut, 920 Farmington Ave, West Hartford, CT 06107.
Description The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg. was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland (coded Operation Downfall). Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army (the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th) and two Marine Divisions (the 1st and 6th) fought on the island. Their invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces.
The battle has been referred to as the "typhoon of steel" in English, and tetsu no ame ("rain of steel") or ("violent wind of steel") in Japanese. The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and to the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle resulted in the highest number of casualties in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Based on Okinawan government sources, mainland Japan lost 77,166 soldiers, who were either killed or committed suicide, and the Allies suffered 14,009 deaths (with an estimated total of more than 65,000 casualties of all kinds). Simultaneously, 42,000–150,000 local civilians were killed or committed suicide, a significant proportion of the local population. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki together with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria caused Japan to surrender less than two months after the end of the fighting on Okinawa.
COL Anthony MacDonald
to remember
Marine Cpl Arthur Warner Kathan, Jr..
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