A Schuylkill County man was one of the U.S. Marines who lost his life during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima.

The nonprofit Stories Behind the Stars (www.storiesbehindthestars.org) has written a memorial for Pfc. Earl F. Linder, who died during the March portion of the battle’s hostilities.

In terms of its combat brutality and staggering casualties, Iwo Jima was the worst battle in the history of the Corps.

Linder was born in 1924 in Cressona to Carl and Edna (Coovar) Linder. He attended schools in North Manheim Township and graduated with the Class of 1943 from Schuylkill Haven High School.

He registered for the draft on Dec. 11, 1942, when he was working for the Brann and Stewart Company in Mechanicsburg and living at the Hogestown Hotel.

He left his job and volunteered for the Marine Corps on May 1, 1943, and received training at Parris Island, South Carolina; Jacksonville and Boca Chica, Florida; Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, and Camp Pendleton, California.

Linder was deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations in November 1944. He was a qualified machine gunner assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.

Allied military planners anticipated an “easy time” conquering the enemy, predicting victory in a 3-day battle. The reality was a gruesome slog of 36 days from Feb. 19 to March 26, 1945, that historians have described as “throwing human flesh against reinforced concrete.”

D-Day at Iwo Jima was Feb. 19, 1945. The island’s determined Japanese defenders had the most ingenious and deadly fortress in military history. Their miles of interlocking subterranean hideouts, concrete bunkhouses and pillboxes proved to be some of the most impenetrable defenses encountered by the Marines.

Linder and his unit came ashore in heavy surf on the fifth day of the battle. The next morning, the Marines advanced on the high ground between Airfields No. 1 and 2. The scarred and pitted terrain made progress slow and costly.

On Feb. 24, they were involved in heavy fighting near Airfield Number 2, and on Feb. 25, Linder was cut off from his unit when his company suffered heavy casualties and was forced to withdraw during a desperate attempt to hold its objective.

Linder protected his position for 24 hours while under incessant hostile attack 300 yards in advance of his own lines and while caring for a wounded Marine whose life he saved.

The Marines regained the offensive and resumed the attack on Feb. 28, advancing rapidly with the capture of Motoyama and the high ground above Airfield No. 3.

Linder was killed in action on March 8, 1945 during a combat mission at Iwo Jima.

The ultimately victorious 36-day assault resulted in more than 26,000 American casualties, including 6,800 dead. The 3rd Marine Division suffered 1,131 killed in action and another 4,438 wounded.

Iwo Jima was the only US Marine battle where American casualties exceeded those of the Japanese.

Linder’s remains were disinterred from the 2nd Marine Cemetery at the Marianas Islands and were laid to rest on Feb. 19, 1949 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu.

He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity.”

Stories Behind the Stars memorials are accessible for free. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to honoring all 421,000 fallen Americans from World War II, including 31,000 from Pennsylvania.

To volunteer or for more information, contact Kathy Harmon at kharmon@storiesbehindthestars.org or visit http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org.