Born: March 11, 1921
Died: February 22, 1945
Campaigns Served: Namur, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima (killed)
Highest Rank Attained: Private First Class
Decorations:
Purple Heart
With Dog Company:
Private First Class Michael Cusimano was one of the original members of Dog Company, 24th Marines. He served as a gunner in the Third Machine Gun Platoon during the battle of Namur.
In March, 1944, Cusimano was transferred to Charlie Company.
With Charlie Company
Cusimano became a rifleman with Charlie Company. He fought with a rifle platoon during the campaign for the Marianas.
PFC Cusimano joined the machine gun platoon in the fall of 1944; he served as a gunner on Iwo Jima. On February 22, he and Platoon Sergeant Mike Mervosh - who was serving as platoon commander - came under heavy mortar fire. They and three other men dove for cover in a shell hole to wait out the barrage.
Cusimano began to worry. Shells were hitting too close to the hole. He gathered himself to make a run for another crater. "I'm getting the hell out of here!" he shouted to Mervosh. Mervosh though Cusimano was out of his mind. "Where the hell are you gonna go?" he yelled. "If you get out of this hole you're gonna get killed. You dumb fool, they've got the area saturated. Stay where you're at!"
Cusimano hesitated, and that moment cost him his life. A shell hit right at the parapet of the hole where he was crouched. Cusimano and another man were killed instantly; Corporal Robert DeNunzio and PFC John Hasara were badly wounded, and Mervosh was deafened for two weeks.
Michael Cusimano is buried in Section F, Site 1738 of Beverly National Cemetery, New Jersey.
Photo by Jodie Cox, FindAGrave.com volunteer.