In Memory of
Marine Private First Class
Delmar Walter Westerman
Chancellor, South Dakota
Turner County
July 10, 1924 – February 22, 1945
Killed in Action at Iwo Jima

Delmar Walter Westerman was born on July 10, 1924.  He was the oldest child of Otto and Emma Westerman.  He attended rural school in Turner County and graduated from Chancellor High School in 1942.

Through the years after Delmar’s death, Otto and Emma, now deceased, often related stories about their son Delmar.  His sister Dolores also has frequently told family members many anecdotes of growing up with her brother.

It seems that everyone had a nickname and Delmar’s was Westy.  He was a very good athlete, playing on the high school football and basketball teams, and he also became involved in the Golden Gloves boxing program.  Scrapbooks kept during his high school years reveal that Westy was an aggressive player.  They also indicate that he was fun loving and, as his picture indicates, his good looks made him popular with the girls.

Following high school, Delmar began farming with his father.  He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on December 2, 1943, and was sent to San Diego for his boot training.  He served with the 3^rd Battalion 28^th Marines 5^th Division.  Private Westerman was sent overseas in October of 1944 where his battalion spent several months training on board the ship.  In his last letter to his parents, dated February 10, 1945, he stated that he was at sea and expected to be in combat soon.

Private Westerman’s first field of combat was at Iwo Jima, where Marine Private First Class Delmar Walter Westerman was wounded on February 21, 1945, while in action fighting for Mount Suribachi.  He was immediately evacuated to a hospital ship where he died on February 22.  He was given a military burial at sea.

A memorial marker is in place in the Black Hills National Cemetery at Sturgis, South Dakota.  A bronze marker has also been placed on the family lot in the Lennox Cemetery, Lennox, SD.  Private Westerman’s name is also etched at Punch Bowl Crater, Honolulu, Hawaii.  He received the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, the Victory Medal, and the Purple Heart, all posthumously.

Delmar Walter Westerman was a great Marine who died fighting for his country.  He will always be remembered as a brave man who sacrificed his life for the United States.

This entry was respectfully submitted by Lane Mellegaard, 11^th Grade, Parker High School, Parker, South Dakota, April 30, 2002.  Information for this entry was provided by Darrel and Karen Westerman.  Darrel is Delmar’s youngest brother, who was five when Delmar gave his life for his country.