Marmar, Aaron Charles
Navy Reserves Pharmacists mate 3rd class

Aaron Charles Marmar, age 22, from Smith County Tyler, Texas .

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Monday, September 18, 1944
Death details: In September 1944, American forces launched Operation STALEMATE II, the invasion on Peleliu, an island in Palau. On Sept. 15, the 1st Marine Division came ashore under enemy fire. The following day, Marines secured the island’s airfield despite taking heavy casualties. The battle for Peleliu lasted another two months, as Marines were forced to clear heavily fortified pockets of Japanese resistance across the island. The 1st Marine Division, reinforced by the 81st Infantry Division, slowly advanced north under nearly constant mortar and artillery fire. The invasion of Peleliu had the highest casualty rate of all the amphibious Pacific Island invasions of World War II. Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Aaron C. Marmar, who joined the U.S. Navy in Texas, served as a corpsman with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, First Marine Division. He was lost on September 18, 1944, possibly during the First Marine’s advance on Hill 200. The exact circumstances and location of his loss are not known. Today, Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Marmar is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency