Master Sergeant E-8, U.S. Marine Corps

Veteran of: U.S. Marine Corps 1939-1958

U.S. Marine Corps Reserve 1958-1969

World War II 1941-1945 (POW)

Cold War 1945-1969

Korean War 1950-1953 (POW)

Tribute:

William Pettit was born on September 11, 1918, in Okeema, Oklahoma. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on January 25, 1939, and completed basic training at MCB San Diego, California, in March 1939. His first assignment was with the 6th Marine Regiment, Fleet Marine Force, at Camp Elliott, California, from April 1939 to July 1940, followed by service with the 4th Marine Regiment in China from July 1940 until the unit evacuated to the Philippines in November 1941. PFC Pettit was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War by the Japanese in the Philippines on May 6, 1942, and was released in China at the end of the war in September 1945. After recuperating from his injuries, Sgt Pettit served at Marine Barracks, NATC Corpus Christi, Texas, and as a Marine Guard at various bases from April 1946 to October 1949, followed by service as a Military Policeman with the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, from October 1949 to August 1950. TSgt Pettit next served as a Military Policeman with the MP Company of the 1st Marine Division during the Korean War from August 1950 until he was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War by North Korea on November 29, 1950. MSgt Pettit was released on September 5, 1953, and then served as Military Police Chief and Investigator at Marine Corps Supply Center Barstow, California, from October 1953 until he left active duty and went into the Marine Corps Reserve on August 1, 1958. MSgt Pettit retired from the Marine Corps Reserve on January 31, 1969, and served as a Police Officer with the Barstow Police Department in Barstow, California, for 16 years. He died on June 16, 2001, and was buried at Mountain View Memorial Park in Barstow.

William Pettit (1918)