The Downers Grove Historical Society published a biography of Cpl. Stewart Arthur Millsap on Saturday, Oct. 17, telling the story of an All-State athlete killed by a sniper on Iwo Jima at age 26.
Written by Andrea Kinsella, the profile is part of a series honoring Downers Grove servicemen whose names are engraved on the Memorial Park plaque. Millsap's story stands out for a wrenching detail: he reunited with his brother on the island after two and a half years apart, then died days later.
Millsap was born June 28, 1918, and grew up in Downers Grove with his parents, sisters Mary and Jean, and brothers Grove and Parker. He graduated from Downers Grove High School in June 1936, earning All-State honors in both basketball and football.
He entered the U.S. Marine Corps in July 1941. After training, he became a seagoing Marine and later served as an instructor at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, before joining the Fourth Marine Division. Stationed in Hawaii, the division sailed for Iwo Jima.
On the island, Millsap found his brother Grove, who was serving with the Third Marine Division. The two had not seen each other in two and a half years. A third brother, Parker, was serving in Europe as a radio operator aboard a C-47 with the Army Air Corps.
Days after the reunion, Millsap was killed by a sniper's bullet while on observation duty.
He died March 10, 1945. His mother's name was Sylvia; the biography notes his father's name is not known.
The Historical Society has also published biographies of three other Downers Grove High School graduates on the Memorial Park plaque: Kenneth Pearson, who died on Guadalcanal; Vincent Mondello, a 1940 graduate who died from an accidental gunshot wound at a training camp in Mississippi; and Richard Mansfield, a 1935 graduate killed in a plane crash during a training mission in California.
All four profiles are available on the Historical Society's website. The society's History on Tap Trivia Pub Crawl returns to downtown Downers Grove on Thursday, Nov. 12, with tickets at $40 for members and $50 for non-members, according to My Suburban Life.
