Top Photo: Sergeant Frank Ludwig Schmaltz. Courtesy of Garden of Memories Funeral Home & Cemetery

A Louisiana Marine who was killed more than 80 years ago in the Battle of Saipan during World War II was laid to rest Monday, October 13, 2025, in Metairie, Louisiana.

On June 15, 1944, roughly 70,000 American soldiers and Marines landed on the Japanese-occupied island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands. Sergeant Frank L. Schmaltz of Company A, 1st Battalion, 29th Marines, was part of the initial assault waves as American forces landed at Tanapag Harbor. Allied commanders planned to use Saipan as a base for long-range B-29 Superfortress bombers to strike the Japanese mainland.

As their assault landing vehicles reached the coast, the leading waves of American troops were met with intense Japanese mortar and artillery fire. The coral reef in the water exploded from the impacts of the incoming artillery rounds, and the water rose over their LVTs (Landing Vehicle, Tracked).

Saipan Invasion, June 1944. View of wrecked LVTs and other debris on one of the Invasion beaches the day after "D-Day", June 16, 1944. National Archives

When Schmaltz and his men landed on the beach, they were overwhelmed with small arms and machine gun fire. The Marines took heavy casualties as they fought their way inland. Schmaltz overcame the chaos of the initial landing, but the fight for Saipan had just begun.

From the landing beaches, Schmaltz and his men observed accurate Japanese artillery being fired from Mount Tapotchau, the highest point on the island. Schmaltz and his fellow Marines of the 1st Battalion fought for three days to reach the base of the mountain. 

On June 25, 1944, Schmaltz and the 1st Battalion were ordered to seize Mount Tapotchau and destroy the Japanese forces occupying the high ground. The Marines encountered Japanese sniper and mortar fire as they maneuvered up the mountain. The movement was slow and costly for the Americans. Around 10 a.m., Schmaltz and his men encountered fierce resistance as they approached the main Japanese defensive line on Mount Tapotchau. 

Schmaltz was severely wounded by shrapnel from a Japanese shell, and he was carried down the mountain to the beach for medical treatment, which he received aboard the USS Rocky Mount off the coast of Saipan. He died from his wounds a day later on June 26, 1944, while aboard the ship.  Schmaltz’s remains were reported returned to Saipan for burial. The island was declared secure on July 9, 1944, with 16,612 Americans killed, wounded, or missing in action. The entire Japanese garrison of approximately 30,000 was virtually wiped out.

In 1947, the American Graves Registration Headquarters conducted search missions on Saipan, but Schmaltz’s remains could not be identified. In 1949, the Graves Registration Board unanimously decided that Schmaltz be declared nonrecoverable. He was memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.

Grave of an unknown Marine casualty on Saipan, in July 1944. A comrade has placed a clump of weeds on the grave memorial. National Archives

The search for Schmaltz continued in the 21st century through the efforts of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). The DPAA classified Schmaltz’s case in the category of “active pursuit,” which meant the case had sufficient information to justify research, investigation, or recovery operations in the field. 

The efforts of the DPAA ultimately succeeded, and Schmaltz was buried with military honors at Garden of Memories Cemetery in Metairie.