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Contact Info
Home Town Burley, Idaho
Last Address Born: Mapleton Utah Raised in: Burley, Idaho Buried: Idaho State Veterans Cemetery, Boise.
Date of Passing Dec 15, 2009
Location of Interment Idaho State Veterans Cemetery - Boise, Idaho
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Last Known Activity:
Arvel Milton Rudolph
He was born January 19, 1926 at Mapleton Utah, the son of Archie Milton Rudolph and Inez Perry Rudolph. He was the first son, and one of nine children. He moved with his family to Burley, Idaho when he was 11 months old. He lived there until he was 16, when he moved to Boise, working at a café until he moved to Seattle, Washington to work for Boeing Aircraft. On August 12, 1943, at the age of 17, he joined the Navy. He took his basic training at Farragut and then went to Treasure Island, California where he was involved in the commissioning of the destroyer U.S.S. Twining. He spent most of his time in the Navy aboard the Twinning in the Pacific fleet fighting the Japanese. His ship escorted the U.S.S. Missouri into Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered. He was discharged from the Navy in 1945 at the end of the war after two years of service, he was 19. and in 1946, he met the love of his life, Norma Shepard. They were married in 1947 in Burley, Idaho. Arvel spent his entire working career as a master carpenter. In 1967, he moved to Boise to become a building supervisor for Hon Construction Co.. This work allowed him the opportunity of building in Everett, Washington, Sun Valley, Cascade and Boise. He was preceded in death by his parents Archie and Inez, and brother Jim. He is survived by his wife of 62 years Norma; sons Rick and wife Jan Rudolph, Martinez, Ca., Layne and wife Cheryl, Boise, daughter Kara and husband Jack Lewis, Nampa, Idaho, six grandchildren, and six great grandchildren; sisters Maxine Twedt, Lancaster, California, Bernyce Kalblinger, Nampa, Opal Wilcox, Twin Falls, Dixie Montgomery, Boise and brothers Perry Rudolph, Placerville, Ca., Reid Rudolph, Cheyenne, Wyoming and Riece Rudolph, Burley . Arvel was active in community service. He was President of the Burley Jaycees, a Boy Scout leader, a Cub Scout Leader, member of the Elks, Toastmasters and received an Idaho Life Merit Award for his work in PTA. He had a love of the outdoors, enjoying hunting, fishing, camping, and spending time with his Good Sam group, the "Boise River Eagles." He enjoyed wintering in Yuma, Arizona. He spent his retirement building furniture and teaching his grandchildren the love of fishing and camping. The family wishes to express gratitude and thanks to the staff at the Idaho State Veterans Home for the loving care they gave Arvel during his three years there. He was buried at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery, Boise.
Other Comments:
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Iwo Jima Operation
From Month/Year
February / 1945
To Month/Year
March / 1945
Description The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945), or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire. The American invasion had the goal of capturing the entire island, including its three airfields (including South Field and Central Field), to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II.
After the heavy losses incurred in the battle, the strategic value of the island became controversial. It was useless to the U.S. Army as a staging base and useless to the U.S. Navy as a fleet base. However, Navy SEABEES rebuilt the landing strips, which were used as emergency landing strips for USAAF B-29s.
The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km (11 mi) of underground tunnels. The Americans on the ground were supported by extensive naval artillery and complete air supremacy over Iwo Jima from the beginning of the battle by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators.
Iwo Jima was the only battle by the U.S. Marine Corps in which the Japanese combat deaths were thrice those of the Americans throughout the battle. Of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, some of whom were captured because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled. The majority of the remainder were killed in action, although it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 continued to resist within the various cave systems for many days afterwards, eventually succumbing to their injuries or surrendering weeks later.
Despite the bloody fighting and severe casualties on both sides, the Japanese defeat was assured from the start. Overwhelming American superiority in arms and numbers as well as complete control of air power — coupled with the impossibility of Japanese retreat or reinforcement — permitted no plausible circumstance in which the Americans could have lost the battle.
The battle was immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of the 166 m (545 ft) Mount Suribachi by five U.S. Marines and one U.S. Navy battlefield Hospital Corpsman. The photograph records the second flag-raising on the mountain, both of which took place on the fifth day of the 35-day battle. Rosenthal's photograph promptly became an indelible icon — of that battle, of that war in the Pacific, and of the Marine Corps itself — and has been widely reproduced.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
February / 1945
To Month/Year
March / 1945
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Plank Owner and service from 1943-1945 on the USS Twining DD-540; awarded: AMERICAN AREA Campaign, 8 Battle Stars ASIATIC-PACIFIC AREA including Marianas Campaign, Tinian Campaign, Paulau Campaign, Leyte Campaign, Luzon Campaign, Iwo Jima Campaign, Okinawa Gunto Campaign, PHILIPPINE LIBERATION ribbon with star: Initial Landing in Luzon and the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
