Raymond Godlewski

Lt. Raymond Godlewski was a platoon leader in Company L, in the 3rd Battalion of the Army's 17th Infantry Regiment, my late father's unit, a part of the 7th Infantry Division.  Lt. Godlewski was killed in action in the Spring of 1945, during the terrible battle of Okinawa, the bloodiest (and last) battle that Americans fought against the Japanese in World War II.  He was initially buried in the 7th Division's own cemetery on the island, not far from Hagushi Beach, where the regiment had made the initial landings on April 1st.

My father recalled Lt. Godlewski as late as the 1980's, when he made notes of the men and events that he recalled from his service as an infantry officer during the war in the 17th Infantry Regiment.