Sundby, John Anderson Jr.
Marines Reserves Private 1st class

John Anderson Jr. Sundby, age 18, from Waupaca County Waupaca, Wisconsin .

Parents: John A. Sundby Sr.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Friday, September 22, 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. Private First Class John Anderson Sundby Jr., who joined the U.S. Marine Corps in Wisconsin, was a member of Company C, 6th Amphibian Tractor Battalion, and took part in Operation STALEMATE II on Peleliu island. On September 22, 1944, he was killed in action, but the circumstances surrounding his loss were unknown at the time and his remains were not recovered. Attempts to locate his remains following the end of hostilities have been unsuccessful, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Private First Class Sundby is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Appleton Post Crescent (1944)