PFC Willmer Dale Gisinger, also known as Dale, was born on 23 October 1925 in Decatur, Illinois, to Ferrill and Chloe (Higgins) Gisinger. Dale grew up with his two older sisters and younger brother in central Illinois, where his family resided in communities such as Cisco, Magnolia, and Wenona.
In July 1938, the Gisinger family suffered a devastating loss when Chloe passed away shortly after the premature birth of a baby daughter, Ruth Ann, who also did not survive. Following Chloe’s death, Ferrill remarried and relocated his family to Altamont in Effingham County, where he worked as a lineman for the telephone company. After a short time, Ferrill moved his family north to LaSalle, Illinois.
Willmer was living with his family in LaSalle at 1130 Third street when he registered for the draft on his 18th birthday on 23 October 1943. As a young adult he stood 5’9” tall and weighed 165 pounds with brown hair and green eyes. A few months later, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 31 December 1943 in Chicago and entered active duty shortly thereafter, on 15 January 1944.
In late February 1945, PFC Gisinger’s unit participated in the amphibious assault on Iwo Jima, a heavily fortified Japanese island of strategic importance in the Pacific. On the morning of 25 February 1945, the 2nd battalion was part of the 9th Marine Regiment’s attack on enemy positions along the southern edge of Motoyama Airfield No. 2. The Japanese defenders, deeply entrenched and unwilling to surrender, resisted with heavy fire. During this intense fighting, PFC Willmer Dale Gisinger was killed in action on 26 February 1945. He was 19 years old.
Dale was initially buried in a temporary grave on Iwo Jima. After the war, his remains were repatriated and permanently laid to rest on 27 January 1949, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. He rests in plot C, grave 160, among many fellow service members who gave their lives in the Pacific Theater.
For his service, PFC Willmer Dale Gisinger was posthumously eligible for the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? If so, visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org and fill out the contact form.
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- Sources:
- 1930 U.S. Census, Ferrill Gisinger, Ancestry.
- 1940 U.S. Census, Ferrill Gisinger, Ancestry.
- “Mrs. Chloe Gisinger, Pantagraph Central Illinois service, the Pantagraph, 12 July 1938, p. 2, col. 3, Newspapers.com.
- “Young Mother of Wenona Dies,” The Times, Streator, Illinois, 11 July 1938, p. 4, col. 3, Newspapers.com.
- State of Illinois, Certificate of Death, Chloe Catherine Gisinger, No. 26892, FamilySearch.
- State of Illinois, Certificate of Death, Ruth Ann Gisinger, No. 26882, FamilySearch.
- U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, Willmer Dale Gisinger, Ancestry.
- Historical Branch, G-3 Division, “A Brief History of the 9th Marines,” Washington, DC, 1967, p. 10.
- Muster Roll of Officers and Enlisted Men of the U.S. Marine Corps, Eighth Recruit Battalion, Training Regiment, Recruit Depot, MCB, San Diego, 1 February to 29 February 1944, February 1944 – Vol 5, Roll 728, No. 362, Willmer D. Gisinger, National Archives, Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries Series, Image 435.
- Muster Roll of Officers and Enlisted Men of the U.S. Marine Corps, Sixty Third Repl BN, Transient Center, Administrative Command, FMF Pacific, FPO, San Francisco, Calif., 1 July to 17 July 1944, No. 170, Willmer D. Gisinger, National Archives, Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries Series, July 1944 – Vol 8, Roll 809, Image 468.
- Muster Roll of Officers and Enlisted Men of the U.S. Marine Corps, 2nd Bn 9th Mar 3d Mar Div FMF In the Field, 1 November to 30 November 1944, No. 114, Willmer D. Gisinger, National Archives, Muster Rolls and Personnel Diaries Series, November 1944 – Vol 11, Roll 882, Image 444.
- Historical Branch, G-3 Division, “Iwo Jima: Amphibious Epic,” 1954, USMCU.
- “US Marine Casualties, Iwo Jima, February 1945,” Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library.
- U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995, Illinois, Streator, 1951, Lester and Lucille Kline, Ancestry.
- U.S., National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962, Willmer Dale Gisinger, Ancestry.
- Individual Deceased Personnel File, Willmer Dale Gisiner, 931095, National Archives.
- US, WWII, Honor Rolls, 1939–1945, Willmer D Gisinger, Fold3.
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3775977/willmer-dale-gisinger
