Major William “Bill” C. White – USMC

When Sgt Dorthy Cole passed away in early 2021, that made Major William White the oldest living Marine.

Bill was born on July 31, 1915, in Long Beach, California as William (Billy*) E. Cederberg White. Bill changed his last name to White when his mother remarried. Bill and his brother, Robert both tried to join the Marine Corps and Bill was refused enlistment due to a skin condition. After being refused by the Marine Corps, Bill went to work on the Hoover Dam construction project. Robert became a flight instructor for the Marine Corps until he died in a training accident. Bill successfully attempted in 1934 to join the Marine Corps and was sent to boot camp at MCRD San Diego, Company A.

He was stationed in Pearl Harbor, before the attack, and then in Shanghai, China, before being a recruiter in Los Angeles. White then went through paratrooper school with the 4th Parachute Battalion and even crossed the equator on the USS Colorado (BB-45) becoming a shellback.

After days at sea, he arrived at Iwo Jima on 19 Feb 1945 but did not go with the initial assault, he went ashore after the first Flag was raised landing on the beach directly under Mt. Suribachi. He received the Purple Heart for injuries sustained during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945 when he was thrown by a grenade blast while leading troops toward the Japanese front line.

“The force just picked me up and slammed me back against a wall,” White told USA Today in a 2022 interview.

White later served during the Korean War, being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1952. Throughout his 30-year career, he was sent to Pearl Harbor; Shanghai; Camp Pendleton, California; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; and El Toro Marine Air Station, California. White retired from active duty in June 1964.

White was awarded a number of medals and honors including the Purple Heart, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, China Service Medal, Armed Forces Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon.

After retirement from the Marine Corps, Bill worked for the Huntington Beach Police Department as a reserve officer, an officer, and a jailer. He also gave back to the community by volunteering for 30 years with the Boy Scouts Explorer Post 563.

Bill passed away on March 4th, 2022 at the age of 106 in his home at The Oaks in Inglewood )