07/26/2026
Honor and Remember - Illinois Chapter shares the news of remains identified in recent years and brought Home...
Marine SGT Arthur Ervin Jr was Killed in Action on July 5, 1944 on Saipan, he was 22 years old…
Born in McCurtain, Oklahoma to Arthur & Willie Ervin on April 16, 1922.
Arthur B Ervin Jr was the youngest of three sons. Their father Arthur was killed in a mining accident on October 22, 1922.
Their mother Willie remarried, had two more children, and the family moved to Texas eventually settling in Detroit. Arthur enlisted in the Marine Corps on June 4, 1940.
Sent to Hawaii in September 1940, Arthur and another Marine were in the brig for off-base theft when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor the morning of December 7, 1941.
Let out of the brig and armed, they participated in the defense and the ensuing clean up efforts, then were put back in the brig.
At a court-martial on December 30, 1941, Arthur was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment at Mare Island and dishonorable discharge, but was released after two months and assigned to the 22nd Marines. Later he volunteered for the Marine Raiders.
In April 1943 Arthur was diagnosed with malaria & dengue fever and was sent to the states.
While on medical leave he married Odena Gladys Good in July 1943.
Assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Arthur was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during the invasion of Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, on February 1, 1944.
He was also wounded twice during the battle and sent to the hospital ship USS Solace.
On June 15, 1944 the 24th Marines landed on Saipan, twenty days later SGT Arthur Ervin was killed by a burst of MG fire while they were assisting some civilians.
Postwar his remains could not be located and he was Memorialized with the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
His widow Odena remarried in December 1945.
Both of Arthurs older brothers also served during WW2;
Oldest brother Harry Lewis “H.L.” Ervin served in the Navy, he passed away at the age of 90 in 1999.
Older brother Harley Earl Ervin also served in the Navy, he passed away at the age of 89 in 2000.
In 2018, a set of unknown remains recovered from Saipan which were buried at the Manila American Cemetery were exhumed for DNA testing.
In June 2022 it was announced that SGT Arthur Ervin Jr had been identified.
On October 16, 2023 he was buried with full military honors at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii - Section U 519.
SAY HIS NAME...
NEVER FORGET OUR MISSING IN ACTION!
PRAY OUR HEROES ARE ALL RETURNED HOME.
