Rome, NY WWII Fallen

PFC ELMER J. MOSTER

USMC #394207

3rd Marine Division, 2nd Battalion, Company E
Fortune Favors the Brave
Nicknamed Island Warriors

Elmer Joseph Moster was born in May 1924 in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, to Clyde (1898-1987) and Dorothy M. Butler (1907-1980) Moster. Clyde was born in Rome, Oneida County, New York, and registered for the draft on August 24, 1918, in Boonville, New York, where he was working. Clyde listed his brother, Earl, as his nearest relative. In 1936, Elmer was attending school in Rome, New York. The Rome Daily Sentinel reported Elmer was given a Safety Patrol award for fifty hours of service at the athletic field of his school. His job was to help protect children from accidents on the field. In the 1940 U.S. Census, Clyde was a truck driver for a reforestation project. Elmer is listed as living with his father on South James Street in Rome, New York. Elmer is also listed in the 1940 U.S. Census as living with his mother (divorced) and brother, Robert, on Tyler Court in Syracuse. Dorothy is working at a drill press in a washer manufacturing plant. Dorothy married Thomas Kaufman at some point in time, and the family moved from Rome to Syracuse. Elmer attended Cathedral School in Syracuse.

July 1942 Parris Island Muster Roll listing Elmer (#102)

Elmer enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on May 14, 1942, when he was 18. He trained at Parris Island, South Carolina, and at New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Elmer was sent overseas on September 1, 1942, after three months of training. The 3rd Marine Division first went to Auckland, New Zealand for staging, training and preparations for combat. From there it was onto Guadalcanal for final staging, entering its first combat November 1, 1943 on Bouganville. The Division stayed on Bouganville until June 1944 when it was relieved and redeployed, eventually to Guam in July 1944.

PFC Elmer J. Moster was killed in Action 22 Jul 1944 while serving with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division on Guam. His remains were interred at Army, Navy, and Marine Corps Cemetery, #3, Grave #12, Row #23, Plot “A’, Guam, Mariana Islands.

On September 14, 1944, Elmer’s mother, Mrs. Kaufman, was informed that Elmer was missing in action since July 22. In October, 1944, Mrs. Kaufman received a telegram Lt. General A. A. Vandegrift, Commander of the U.S. Marine Corps, stating Elmer was killed in action in Guam on July 22, 1944.

PFC Elmer Moster was survived by his father, Clyde Moster, his mother and stepfather, Dorothy and Thomas Kaufman, a brother, Robert, his Grandmother, Mrs. Fannie Butler of Rome, New York, nine aunts and eight uncles living in Rome, New York, and fifteen uncles and cousins in service overseas. These include MSgt. Albert Butler, USAAF, and PFC Henry Butler, Quartermaster Corps.

Funeral services were conducted April 17, 1948, at 8:15 a.m. in the home of his parents, Dorothy and Thomas Kaufman, and at 9 a.m. at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, in Syracuse, New York. The Syracuse Detachment of the Marine Corps League conducted military rites at the Assumption Cemetery in Syracuse, NY.

In August, 1948, Mrs. Dorothy Kaufman, PFC. Moster’s mother, received a posthumous award of a Presidential Unit Citation with a ribbon bar and one star. The citation was to the Third Marines for action on Guam in the Mariana Islands.

End notes: This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars Project, a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3 web sites. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery. If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact hillerson@beyondbb.com.

Sources:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74357782/elmer-joseph-moster

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/218104795/clyde_moster

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44894869/dorothy_m_butler

Fold3.com:

https://www.fold3.com/record/643098880/elmer-joseph-moster-us-marine-corps-casualty-indexes-19401958

https://www.fold3.com/image/715941875/us-marine-corps-muster-rolls-1798-1958-page-5187-us-marine-corps-muster-rolls-1798-1958

https://www.fold3.com/image/715122899/1944-page-56562-us-marine-corps-muster-rolls-1798-1958

https://www.fold3.com/image/715188849/us-marine-corps-muster-rolls-1798-1958-page-16607-us-marine-corps-muster-rolls-1798-1958

https://www.fold3.com/image/715964563/us-marine-corps-muster-rolls-1798-1958-page-23098-us-marine-corps-muster-rolls-1798-1958

https://www.fold3.com/image/712947312/us-rosters-of-world-war-ii-dead-1939-1945-page-10398-us-rosters-of-world-war-ii-dead-1939-1945

https://www.fold3.com/image/715204161/us-marine-corps-muster-rolls-1798-1958-page-31917-us-marine-corps-muster-rolls-1798-1958