Robert E. Knode – Private, United States Marine Corps

The following is the biographical information that I would like added in remembrance of Private Robert E. Knode, USMCR.

David H. Eckert: July 2007

Robert E. Knode was born on Wednesday, November 18, 1914 in Yeagertown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, the second son of five children to John Irvin Knode and Harriet R. Leightley.

Robert was raised in Yeagertown and graduated from high school in 1933 and like his father he was a steelworker working for the Standard Steel Works Company. He married sometime before 1940.

Robert felt a profound sense of patriotism and answered the call of his country in 1944, enlisting into the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

He was attached to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry, 5th Marine Division, a division created for the Battle of Iwo Jima and the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands. He would be killed in action on D-Day+2 during heavy fighting on February 21, 1945.

He was laid to rest in the Iwo Jima Cemetery. In 1949, Private Robert E. Knode was brought home and laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, Washington D.C. in Section 12, Site 4702.

It is now 62 years since his death and as a family, we shall ensure that he is not forgotten. He was just like many others, a soldier doing his bit for freedom but I write this so his story will never be forgotten and our children for generations to come will remember the ultimate sacrifice he gave for our freedom today. His courage and sacrifice to defend the freedoms of us at home and of those abroad will never be forgotten. Like so many others, he gave his life at such a young age.


KNODE, ROBERT EARL

  • PVT USMC
  • DATE OF BIRTH: 11/18/1914
  • DATE OF DEATH: 02/21/1945
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 12  SITE 4702
    ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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