This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Olexa, David Edward, MoMM2c.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Neffs, OH
Last Address Box 94 Neffs, OH (Parents~Mr&Mrs Samuel Olexa
Casualty Date Mar 05, 1943
Cause MIA-Finding of Death
Reason Lost At Sea-Unrecovered
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Manila American Cemetery - Taguig City, Philippines
Wall/Plot Coordinates Tablets of the Missing (Cenotaph)
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Bombardment - Marshall and Gilbert Islands
From Month/Year
February / 1942
To Month/Year
February / 1942
Description Two carrier task forces (Vice Adm. W. F. Halsey and Rear Adm. F. J. Fletcher) and a bombardment group (Rear Adm. R. A. Spruance), totaling 2 aircraft carriers, 5 cruisers, and 10 destroyers, attack Kwajalein, Wotje, Maloelap, Jaluit, and Mili in the Marshall Islands and Makin, Gilbert Islands. United States naval vessels damaged: Carrier ENTERPRISE (CV-6), by suicide bomber, Marshall- Gilberts raid, Heavy cruiser CHESTER (CA-27), by dive bomber, Marshall- Gilberts raid,
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
February / 1942
To Month/Year
February / 1942
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories On her first war patrol, from 8 February to 4 April 1942, Grampus sank an 8636-ton tanker, the only kill of her short career, and reconnoitered Kwajalein and Wotje atolls, later the scene of bloody but successful landings. Grampus's second and third patrols were marred by a heavy number of antisubmarine patrol craft off Chuuk and poor visibility as heavy rains haunted her path along the Luzon and Mindoro coasts. Both patrols terminated at Fremantle, Australia.
