Hometown: La Crosse, WI
Branch: U.S. Marine Corps
Unit: 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division
Date of Sacrifice: February 27, 1945 - KIA on Iwo Jima
Age: 20
Conflict: World War II, 1939-1945

Along the Mississippi River in western Wisconsin, William Edward “Bill” Downey was born in La Crosse on June 24, 1924. He lived there with his parents George and Charlotte, and his siblings Mary, Betty, and Jerry.

America was only beginning to come out of the decade-long Great Depression when Bill graduated from La Crosse’s Central High School in 1941. Later that year, Imperial Japan stunned the world with a bold attack on the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.

Bill Downey, 17 years old and all of 5' 8" and 130 pounds, enlisted in the United States Marine Corps a month later. His family saw him for the last time when he boarded a train at La Crosse’s Burlington train depot—bound for San Francisco, California.

Downey was assigned to the 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, joining his regiment on March 7, 1942. His tour would take him across the Pacific to New Zealand, the Mariana Islands, and New Hebrides. Downey’s 9th regiment fought in some of the most fierce battles in World War II’s Pacific theater, taking part in difficult amphibious assaults on the islands of Guam, Guadalcanal, and Bougainville.

Downey was promoted to Corporal and became a respected rifle squad leader. In a letter home, Cpl. Downey described his experiences:

You asked me about combat. Well, that’s hard to answer. The worst about it is the rain and mud, swamps, and jungles. When you get scairt is under an artillery barrage or during a bombing attack. When you are actually fighting the Japs you aren’t even nervous. Just as soon as you start fighting you grow calm. Seems funny but it’s true…Monahan went home. Was shot in the leg. That Lucky Guy.

To avoid his letters being censored by the War Department, Cpl. Downey sometimes communicated to his family using code words. Using the first names of distant cousins, he’d tell his family about “Dennis” (meaning combat) and “Jimmy” (medical care): “Oh by the way I see Dennis every day now. You can imagine how well I like him. Some of the guys met Jimmy but I didn’t need him.”

In an interview with The La Crosse Tribune, younger brother Jerry Downey shared many of Bill’s letters. The Tribune notes, “Jungle rot infected his feet, and Bill spent time on a hospital ship. He enjoyed the comfort—and being around female nurses—but was always anxious to get back to his men. Increasingly, his letters reflected a sense of duty.”

Bill wrote home:

In one of your letters you said something about responsibility. Well it is pretty clear down here. Responsibility is measured in lives here, yours and the lives of those under you. If you don’t live up to it you don’t live. You people back in the States don’t seem to realize that the kids who left you a few years ago are now much older than you in regard to life & death.

Cpl. Downey’s time in the Pacific was nearing its end in early 1945. He wrote home that he was considering his future, hoping to attend college and become a journalist. A severe case of malaria landed him in a hospital on the island of Guam while his regiment prepared to ship out for an assault on Iwo Jima.

Downey had his ticket home, after experiencing the worst dangers of combat in the Pacific islands. But his sense of duty toward his men and his country drove him to give up his chance. Along with Cpl. Anthony C. Baranowski, Cpl. Downey sneaked out of the hospital to rejoin his regiment for the assault on Iwo Jima.

In the book Two Score and Ten: Third Marine Division’s History, Col. Conrad M. Fowler recalls his fellow Marines:

At the time the 9th Marines were loading to go to Iwo Jima, both Downey and Baranowski were aboard a ship scheduled to depart from Guam to go to the United States. They were being returned to the States, because of severe malaria. Each of them went AWOL—which neither would have done under different circumstances—from the ship destined to return them to the United States. They managed to come aboard the troop carrier that took us to Iwo Jima and concealed their presence until we were underway.

On the island of Iwo Jima, Japanese defenders were dug in deep bunkers in the volcanic rock. In some of the bloodiest fighting of World War II, nearly 7,000 Marines were killed, another 20,000 wounded.

Another fellow Marine, Clarence Brookes, recalls:

…the next hole to us took a direct hit. Hennessy, Downey, Meek, and Lieutenant Lindblad were in that hole…Downey was the only one not killed instantly...and he died on the way back to the Aid Station. It was our own naval gunfire that hit them. I actually saw a shell come from behind us. Sometimes you see things in the corner of your eye that you might otherwise never see.

Cpl. William “Bill” Downey was killed in action February 27, 1945, at age 20. For his dedication to his men and courage in battle, he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star. His citation reads:

For heroic achievement as Rifle Squad Leader, while serving with the First Battalion, Ninth Marines, Third Marine Division, at Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, on 26 February 1945. Isolated from his platoon by fierce enemy fire during an attack against a strong enemy force entrenched in pillboxes and caves, Corporal Downey traversed open and fire-swept terrain to make contact with his platoon leader and receive instructions. Rejoining his squad, he aggressively pressed the attack with great skill until fatally wounded. His outstanding initiative and extreme courage in the face of overwhelming danger were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Sources
Details and card photo submitted by Ms. Rosanna Scannell—Cpl. Downey’s niece.
The La Crosse Tribune, April 8, 1945: Corp Downey Dies on Iwo
The La Crosse Tribune, May 30, 2010: First a Brother Then a Hero
Two Score and Ten: Third Marine Division’s History
Burial Site: Find a Grave