The 35th Infantry Regiment Association salutes our fallen brother, 2LT John Marian Asal Jr, who died in the service of his country on January 13th, 1943 in Guadalcanal. The cause of death was listed as MIA-KIA. At the time of his death John was 27 years of age. He was from Butte, Montana.
The decorations earned by 2LT John Marian Asal Jr include: the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Jack is listed on The Tablets of The Missing at Manila American Cemetery
Taken from "The Montana Standard" (Butte, Montana)
Wednesday, March 1, 1944
Butte Officer's Death Learned
Lt. Jack Asal Was on Air Transport
Second Lieutenant Jack M. Asal of Butte, who was reported missing in action on January 13, 1943, now must be presumed dead in as much as no word has been received of him in the past 12 months, the war department has notified his mother, Mrs. W.S. Hickey of the Fox Hotel. Mrs. Hickey has received a letter from the adjutant general's office reporting that Lieutenant Asal was aboard a transport plane which departed from Guadalcanal in Jan. 13, 1943, en route to Efate, New Hebrides, and that the plane failed to reach its destination. The letter stated that in view of the fact that 12 months have now expired without receipt of evidence to support a continued presumption of survival, the War Department must terminate such absence by a presumptive finding of death.
"I regret the necessity for this message but trust that the ending of a long period of uncertainty may give at least some small measure (Continued On Page3, Col 4)
Of consolation", the adjutant general wrote. " I hope you may find sustaining comfort in the thought that the uncertainty with which war has surrounded the absence of your son has enhanced the honor of his service to his country and of his sacrifice."
Mrs. Hickey was notified February 7, 1943 that her son was missing in action, and the recent letter from the War Department was the first word she has received since that time concerning Lieutenant Asal. It is believed the Butte Lieutenant was wounded in the battle of Guadalcanal and was being evacuated to a hospital in the New Hebrides when the transport failed to reach its destination.
Lieutenant Asal, who would have been 28 years of age on March 23, was born in Ossian, Iowa, but had lived in Butte most of his life. He was graduated from the Garfield grade school and attended Butte high school and Butte Business college. He was graduated in 1941 from the Montana State university school of pharmacy, and entered the Army on August 9, 1941. He had never returned from the time he entered the service.
Lieutenant Asal's father, J.M. Asal, operates a drug store in Cascade, and his step-father, W.S. Hickey, is a Butte mining man. Also surviving are a sister, Mary Jane Asal, and a brother, Edward Hickey, both of Butte.
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