Marine Aviation Unit in Assault Echelon at Okinawa During WWII

The seven men pictured above were from the Northwest Ohio area and were among the first Marine Aviation men participating in the initial phases of the battle for the possession of Okinawa. Attached to a Marine Air unit, they were in the assault echelon which landed on the western coast of Okinawa, close on the heels of the infantry.  They moved inland where they set up operations on the site of the former Japanese bomber strip at Yontan Airport.

Front row (l to r): TSgt. Claude E. Snyder, 22; Pvt. Dunbar A Tietz, 25; Cpl. Arthur B. Hayes, 20

Back row (l to r): Second Lt. Edwin F. Ayers, 24; Ack. Peter Minich, 20; Donald E. Pflegharr, 21; TSgt. Carl E. Pruitt, 21

Arthur B. Hayes was the son of Admiral Webb C. Hayes II and Martha Baker Hayes and the great grandson of President Rutherford B. Hayes

This official Marine Corps photo was provided by the son of Peter Minich