Born: September 21, 1922
Died: December 15, 1989
Campaigns Served: Namur, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima
Highest Rank Attained: Corporal
Decorations:
Sandy Ball was born in Bluefield, West Virginia, in 1922. He was the youngest of five children born to railroad engineer Thomas Ball and his wife, Carrie. Sandy enlisted in the Marine Corps just days after his twentieth birthday, and was sent to Parris Island for boot camp. After graduation, he and his recruit platoon were transferred to New River, North Carolina, where they became the weapons platoon of Company C, First Separate Battalion.
Ball served as an ammunition carrier for one of the machine gun teams during the battles of Namur, Saipan, and Tinian. He was promoted to corporal in the fall of 1944, and may have led a squad of his own into combat on Iwo Jima.
Corporal Ball was honorably discharged on November 6, 1945. Although he received no individual decorations, he would have shared the sentiment expressed by his fellow gunner, "Iron Mike" Mervosh - he had five medals: two arms, two legs, and a head. Ball returned to his hometown of Bluefield, where he married Liz Heaton and had five children of his own. He followed his father into the railroad business, working alongside the elder Ball as a fireman. Sandy was eventually promoted to engineer, and worked on the railroads for the rest of his career.
Although he granted an interview to a local newspaper on the twentieth anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima, Ball was reticent to speak of his wartime experiences. He died in 1989, and is buried in Grandview Memorial Gardens, Bluefield.
Thanks to Jack Ball for the additional information.
Please click here to see Sandy's photographs from World War Two.