Name: John Lucas MARSHALL
Rank / Rating: WT2-Water Tender Second Class
Service #: 895 57 40
DOB: Oct 17, 1922
From: Altoona, PA
Parents: Michael and Christine Marshall
Went Aboard: Jan 19, 1944
Age When Ship Went Down: 22 years, 9 months, 13 days
Spouse:
Children:
Grandchildren:
Bio Submitted By: Chris Moyer (from the non-profit, "Stories Behind the Stars")
Date Posted:

Thanks to the efforts of those like Chris Moyer of Blue Bell, PA who has been volunteering with the non-profit, “Stories Behind the Stars”, our group has another USS Indianapolis photograph and personal history for a beloved crew member that until now, very little was known. John Lucas Marshall was born on Oct. 17, 1922, in Altoona, and the son of Polish-speaking parents Michael and Christine Marshall, who had immigrated from Poland in the early 20th century. Michael Marshall, a veteran of World War I, financially supported the household as a hostler at the steam railroad roundhouse in Altoona. In researching Marshall, Moyer found the 22-year-old had three older brothers, Walter, Stanley and Louis, a younger brother, Henry, and a younger sister, Anna. Marshall graduated from Altoona High School in 1941, then began working for the Pennsylvania Railroad before enlisting in the Navy Reserve on Aug. 5, 1943. Moyer found that Marshall received basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago, Illinois, and was transferred to the Navy Receiving Barracks in Shoemaker, California, to await assignment. He boarded the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis on Jan. 19, 1944, with the rate of Fireman 2nd Class. Of the 879 men killed in action or lost at sea in the sinking, 37 were Pennsylvanians. Marshall, from Blair County, was among them. He was memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Philippines. He is listed on USS Indianapolis National Memorial in Indianapolis, Indiana, and he was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.