Jim Lattmann
| Date and Place of Birth: | circa 1925, Jamaica, NY |
| Date and Place of Death: | July 31, 1944, Tinian, Pacific Ocean |
| Baseball Experience: | Amateur |
| Position: | Pitcher/Outfield |
| Rank: | Private First Class |
| Military Unit: | USMC |
| Area Served: | Pacific Theater of Operations |
James F. "Jim" Lattmann, son of Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Lattmann, was born
in Jamaica, New York in 1925. He was attending Andrew Jackson High
School and pitching for the St. Albans Americans of the Queens Alliance
League when he enlisted with the Marines in 1942.
Lattmann trained at Parris Island and New River before heading to the
Pacific in January 1944. A Private First Class, he was wounded on Saipan
on June 16, 1944, but returned to his unit in time for the assault on
Tinian.
James Lattmann, a machine gunner, was killed in action on July 31, 1944,
when a Japanese mortar shell hit his gun position. He was just 19.
Wartime reports indicated that Pfc. Lattmann was buried at Tinian. His
name appears on the Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial in
Honolulu, Hawaii.
His twin brother, Private First Class Richard V. Lattmann, who was with
the
Marines at Bougainville, Guadalcanal and Augusta Bay, was back in the
United States recovering from malaria at the time of James' death.
Sources
Long Island Daily Press, May 6, 1942
Long Island Daily Press, August 19, 1942
Long Island Daily Press, October 18, 1944
Brooklyn Eagle, November 17, 1944
Thanks to Matthew Lattman for help with this biography.
Date Added: February 8, 2014. Updated May 27, 2018
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