Background
Power was born on November 20, 1918, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He grew up in that city, living near the Cathedral of Saint Paul, and in 1937 graduated from Classical High School.
Power was born on November 20, 1918, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He grew up in that city, living near the Cathedral of Saint Paul, and in 1937 graduated from Classical High School.
He next attended the College of the Holy Cross, where he participated in tennis, basketball, football, and golf before his graduation in 1941.
O"Callahan remembered Power as "a good and determined student." After the war, Power"s youngest sister, Patricia Power Rose, tended to O"Callahan as a student nurse at Worcester"s Saint Vincent Hospital, where he was a patient. Power enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve on July 7, 1942, and was soon assigned to Officer Candidates School. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Reserve on October 31, 1942, and entered the 14th Reserve Officers Class at Quantico, Virginia, for a two-month course of instruction.
In January 1943, Power joined Company East, 3rd Separate Battalion, and deployed with that unit in March to Camp Pendleton, California.
The designation of his unit was changed to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, and the unit subsequently joined the newly formed 4th Marine Division. He was promoted to first lieutenant on August 31, 1943.
Power sailed with his unit in mid-January 1944 from San Diego harbor, and on February 1, 1944, the 24th Marines participated in the assault at Roi-Namur in the Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. Roi was captured in short order and the surviving Japanese fled to nearby Namur.
lieutenant was during the battle of Namur Island that Power was killed in action when he charged a Japanese pillbox despite a severe stomach wound.
Power was initially buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Roi-Namur. His remains were later returned for burial at Saint John"s Cemetery in his hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts. The destroyer United States Ship Power (Doctor of Divinity-839) was named in his honor.
A plaque commemorating the United States Ship Power is located at his alma mater, the College of the Holy Cross, in front of the Hogan Campus Center.
Power"s sisters donated his Medal of Honor to Holy Cross.