From the South Dakota WWII Memorial website:
Everett Newell Marsh was born on April 18, 1920, in Rapid City, South Dakota, to Earl Eugene and Ida Belle Marsh. He had one brother, Wilson, and a sister, Evelene. Everett also had three half brothers: Gerald, Cecil, and Kenneth. Raised and educated in Rapid City, Everett liked hunting and riding motorcycles in his spare time. Before he entered the service, Everett worked for Bakkan Bakery. Everett married Cordelia Rodgers, and they had a daughter, MarJean Ione, although they later divorced.
Everett enlisted in the Marine Corps on January 5, 1942, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was then sent to recruit training in San Diego, California. He received infanry and communications training while at San Diego. He was shipped overseas aboard the USS Crescent City to Nukualota, Tongatabu on July 19, 1942. Then during August 1942 he first experienced combat, landing with the H&S Company, 2nd Marines on Tulagi and later fought on Guadalcanal.
Sergeant Everett Marsh’s last campaign was on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. On November 20, 1943, Sergeant Marsh was killed in action on the Tarawa Atoll during the invasion landing. His mother received a telegram on December 23, 1943, informing her of his death. After the war, Sergeant Marsh’s body was returned to the United States and reburied at the Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis on February 4, 1952.
Among Everett Marsh’s awards were the Purple Heart, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon Bar with Two Stars, and the WW II Victory Medal. At the time of his death, Everett was survived by his parents, daughter, and siblings. Currently, Everett is survived by his daughter MarJean Bloom, Tucson, Arizona; sister, Evelene Bloom, Tacoma, Washington; and half brothers, Cecil Marsh, Redmond, Oregon, and Gerald and Kenneth Marsh, both of Rapid City.
Thanks to Jordan McCaskill, Mat Kahler, and Jesse Kelley, eleventh grade English, Stevens High School, Rapid City, South Dakota for researching Sgt. Marsh for the South Dakota WWII Memorial website. Information for this entry was provided by the Marsh family via Richard Marsh, Spearfish, SD, and MarJean Marsh Bloom, Tucson, Arizona.
Email - Jon@tarawaontheweb.org
copyright 2002 Wheaton, Illinois
Created 21 December 2002
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