Marine Medic, which was killed during the Second World War to join the name of the Okinawa peace commemorate

A Navy Corpsman who was killed during the Battle of Okinawa will be the first American for five years to be the memorial to a monument on the island that is reminiscent of the battle.

Petty Officer of the 3. Class Vernon Martin – A pharmacist at H Company, 3rd Battalion, 29th Marines, 6th Marine Division – will be added to the cornerstone of peace in the Peace Park in Itoman City, the prefecture of the IToman City prefecture, which was announced on Monday.

His name joins the 16 Okinawans and 325 from other parts of Japan, which this year came into the monument, as a list of the prefecture published on Monday shows.

Martin from Niles, Michigan, was killed when a grenade fragment met him on May 15, 1945 when the 6th Marine Division in Okinawa's capital Nahha fought for it according to his US -Navy death certificate.

Martin, born on September 7, 1926, joined September 24, 1943 according to his victim report. He was one of eight children born Dorothy and Roy Martin, said his niece Donna Piazza, who lives in Niles, on Friday by phone.

She learned from Stars and Stripes that the name of her uncle will be added to the memorial this year. Robert McGowan II, whose father served as a Marine Sergeant and Squad Leader, worked with Marine Corps Steph Pawelski's spouse to find the documents that are necessary to add Martin's names, McGowan said on May 4.

“I'm so happy that he will finally arrive there,” said Piazza.

Martin will be the first American to be added to the memorial since 2020.

The names are engraved before June 23 or Irei No Hi, on the day on which Okinawa commemorates the end of the Battle of Okinawa, a spokeswoman for the Prefectural Peace division and subnational diplomaty promotion, which said on Monday. This year is the 80th anniversary of the battle.

Some Japanese government officials can only speak to the media under the condition of anonymity.

A Navy Corpsman who was killed in the Battle of Okinawa will be added another 341 names this year to the cornerstone of peace in Okinawa Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa, Japan. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

The Petty Officer 3rd grade Vernon Martin was killed when a shell fragment hit his chest on May 15, 1945 when the 6th Marine Division fought for taking sugar loaf on Okinawa. (US navy)

A Navy Corpsman who was killed in the Battle of Okinawa will be added another 341 names this year to the cornerstone of peace in Okinawa Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, Okinawa, Japan. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

The Memorial Park marks the place of the last action of the battle. A memorial event takes place every year on this day.

The cornerstone of the peace was built in 1995, 50 years after the battle. The monument shows the names of almost 250,000 that died during the fights: 14,011 Americans and 227,977 Japanese.

Most of the 325 names added by the main islands of Japan are of seafarers who died on the Imperial Navy Battleship Yamato, which was once the biggest battleship.

The Battle of Okinawa started on April 1, 1945 and lasted 82 days. More than 14,000 Americans, around 110,000 Japanese troops and at least 140,000 in Okinawan civilists were killed during or after the fights.