Born: March 22, 1923
Died: September 12, 1993
Campaigns Served: Iwo Jima (wounded)
Highest Rank Attained: Private First Class
Decorations: Purple Heart
John Casale joined the Fourth Marine Division in the fall of 1944. He was assigned to the mortar section of Able Company, 24th Marines, as an ammunition carrier.
PFC Casale was caught in a tremendous bombardment on the first night of the battle of Iwo Jima. Huge Japanese mortar shells impacted along the Marine lines all night, causing widespread havoc - one mortar squad, probably Casale's, was all but destroyed. Casale himself was evacuated for illness that night; it is likely that he was suffering from shell shock or concussion caused by the bombardment.
Casale was treated and allowed to rest aboard a hospital ship; he recovered and returned to the company on February 24. He was wounded in action on March 1, 1945, and evacuated to the Aiea Heights Naval Hospital. Though Casale's days of combat were over, he stayed in the Marine Corps and was discharged as a sergeant.
John Casale died in Michigan in 1993. He is buried in Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veteran's Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown, NJ.