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Contact Info
Home Town Fresno, California
Last Address Fresno, California
Date of Passing Feb 11, 2015
Wall/Plot Coordinates Cremated; location of ashes unknown.
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Navy veteran. Married the love of his life, Violet, for 67 years. He died first, she passed away with in hours.
HARTWIG — Floyd R. Hartwig, 90, of Fresno died Feb. 11. He was a retired farmer. Visitation: 3 to 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at Stephens and Bean Chapel. Service: 10 a.m. Feb. 19 at the chapel. Remembrances: Childrens Hospital Central California-NICU Unit, 9300 Valley Childrens Place, Madera, CA 93638 or Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675.
HARTWIG — Violet L. Hartwig, 89, of Fresno died Feb. 11. She was a retired farmer. Visitation: 3 to 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at Stephens and Bean Chapel. Service: 10 a.m. Feb. 19 at the chapel. Remembrances: Childrens Hospital Central California-NICU Unit, 9300 Valley Childrens Place, Madera, CA 93638 or Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675.
Both were born in Fresno, CA, and passed on February 11, 2015. After a brief illness they passed on the same day while holding hands. He enlisted in the United States Navy on December 15, 1942, and served in World War II, in the Pacific. He was awarded the following medals, Victory World War II American Theatre, Good Conduct-Asiatic Pacific and Phillippine Liberation. During the six years he served in the Navy, he participated in all the major battles in the American Theatre. He was on board the LST 463 Naval ship at Bikini O'Toole when the first atomic bomb was detonated. His ship was credited with downing five Japanese planes. His ship crossed the equator 26 times. He was honorably discharged in 1948. He married "Vi" while home on shore leave in August 1947. After his discharge he returned to the Fresno area and started farming on his ranch in Easton, CA, along with "Vi". They chopped cotton and fed turkeys side by side. They were very proud of the fact that they did all their own work right up to the last week. "Vi" was very devoted to her family; sewing, cooking, gardening, and volunteering for the PTA. She enjoyed the times when the family sat together at the dinner table and laughed and worked together on the ranch. She enjoyed long visits with family in the breezeway and under the big tree that stood in their front yard. "Vi" always said she lived every day to the fullest. Floyd and "Vi" are survived by their children, Donna Scharton and her husband Jerry, Carol Johnson and her husband Carl, Kenneth Hartwig and his wife Betty. They have four grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren that they loved dearly. She is also survived by her sister, Betty Jones; brother, Donald Johansen and his wife Francine; and sister-in-law, Allie Johansen. We would like to thank their care giver, Ginnie Dowdy; and Optimal Hospice. Visitation will be held at Stephens and Bean Chapel on Wednesday, February 18, 2015, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. A Funeral Service will be held at Stephens & Bean Chapel on Thursday, February 19, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. Remembrances may be made to Children's Hospital NICU, 9300 Valley Childrens Place, Madera, CA 93638; or Wounded Warriors Project, P.O.Box 758517, Topeka, KS, 66675. Stephens & Bean Chapel, 202 North Teilman Avenue, Fresno, California (559)268-9292.
Published in the Fresno Bee on Feb. 18, 2015
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Okinawa Gunto Operation
From Month/Year
March / 1945
To Month/Year
June / 1945
Description The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg. was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland (coded Operation Downfall). Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army (the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th) and two Marine Divisions (the 1st and 6th) fought on the island. Their invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces.
The battle has been referred to as the "typhoon of steel" in English, and tetsu no ame ("rain of steel") or ("violent wind of steel") in Japanese. The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and to the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle resulted in the highest number of casualties in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Based on Okinawan government sources, mainland Japan lost 77,166 soldiers, who were either killed or committed suicide, and the Allies suffered 14,009 deaths (with an estimated total of more than 65,000 casualties of all kinds). Simultaneously, 42,000–150,000 local civilians were killed or committed suicide, a significant proportion of the local population. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki together with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria caused Japan to surrender less than two months after the end of the fighting on Okinawa.
