Charles H. Knutson

Marengo, IL.

Date of Birth: 8 May, 1924

Date of Death: 21 February, 1945

Branch of Service: United States Marine Corps

Rank: Private First Class

Unit: Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division

Place of Death: Iwo Jima, Volcano Island, Japan

Private First Class Charles H. Knutson

On the morning of February 19, 1945, the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater began as United States Marines stormed the black volcanic shores of Iwo Jima. The tiny island—just eight square miles of ash, rock, and fortified Japanese positions—would become the site of one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history. Over the course of thirty-six days of brutal combat, nearly 7,000 Americans would be killed and more than 19,000 wounded. Among those who gave their lives was Private First Class Charles Henry Knutson of Marengo, Illinois, who fell in combat on the third day of the assault.

Charles Henry Knutson was born in 1924 to Roy Chester Knutson and Elsie Nell Lasch Knutson of Marengo, Illinois. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division.

The 5th Marine Division had been formed specifically for the invasion of Iwo Jima. The island, located approximately 750 miles south of Tokyo, was a strategic prize: its airfields could support American bombers striking the Japanese mainland and provide emergency landing sites for damaged B-29s returning from raids. The Japanese high command understood the island’s importance and had transformed it into a fortress, with 21,000 defenders entrenched in an elaborate network of caves, tunnels, and reinforced bunkers.

The 28th Marines landed on the western beaches of Iwo Jima on D-Day, February 19, 1945. Their objective was to fight across the narrow neck of the island and then turn south to assault Mount Suribachi, the 546-foot volcanic peak that dominated the southern tip of Iwo Jima. Japanese artillery observers stationed on Suribachi could direct devastating fire on the invasion beaches, making its capture essential to the success of the entire operation.

Private First Class Knutson was killed in action on February 21, 1945, during the fierce fighting to secure the island. Three days later, on February 23, his battalion would reach the summit of Mount Suribachi and raise the American flag in one of the war’s most iconic moments—an image that would come to symbolize Marine Corps courage and sacrifice.

On Friday afternoon, February 23, 1945—the same day the flag was raised on Suribachi—Mr. and Mrs. Roy Knutson of Marengo received two telegrams from the War Department. Their younger son, Private First Class Charles Knutson, had been killed in action at Iwo Jima on February 21. Their eldest son, First Lieutenant Clarence Knutson, had been killed in action in Belgium on January 7. The loss of both sons within six weeks devastated the family and marked the first time a family in the area had lost two sons in such close succession.

Private First Class Knutson’s remains were eventually recovered and returned to the United States under the Return of World War II Dead Program. In accordance with the family’s wishes, Charles was laid to rest beside his brother Clarence at Quincy National Cemetery in Quincy, Illinois. The two brothers, who had served on opposite sides of the world, were united in death in adjoining graves—a final testament to the cost of war and the sacrifice of those who served.