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WAKE ISLAND MARINE , POW who did not survive .


KASTAUFFER
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This is a group to a Marine captured on Wake Island who did not survive to see the end of the war.

 

He was part of the VMF-211 contingent who fought on Wake Island along side the 1st Def. Bn.

 

In November 1941, VMF-211 embarked 12 of its 24 Wildcats and 13 of its 29 pilots aboard the USS Enterprise for movement to Wake Island, the scene of the squadron's heroic battle. On December 8, 1941 the Japanese attacked Wake, destroying seven of the aircraft on the ground. Over the next two weeks, the remaining five planes repelled numerous attacks and inflicted great losses on the enemy.

 

During the course of this defense, the Marine ground forces and VMF-211 caused the loss of at least four enemy warships, including the first major Japanese naval vessels sunk during the Pacific war. The squadron was also credited with 8 aircraft destroyed. After the loss of its last aircraft, the squadron became a ground unit and fought until the surrender of the atoll. The first Marine airman to be awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II was VMF-211's Henry T. Elrod. A planned operation to reinforce Wake Island was deemed too dangerous by the fleet command, and on December 23 Wake Island was finally overrun by a numerically superior enemy.

 

After Wake Island surrendered, he was transported to the Shanghai War Prisoner's camp and was later transferred to Japan. On Nov 4, 1944 he died in the Osaka POW camp. Since he died of disease , he was not awarded a Purple Heart.

 

RIP Marine

 

MVC-033L.JPG

 

d5.jpg

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Wonderful Wake Island ephemera, Kurt. Congrats, I'm jealous! Do you have any info the whereabouts of his medals? Regards......Bob

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Very interesting and historic group to a brave Marine.Cool to see that they actually have the medal number list for his Expeditionary Medal.In my honest opinion, and not to take away from this amazing group, I think all POWs that die while in captivity deserve a Purple Heart.

 

Semper Fi! Marine

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  • 5 months later...

Thank you for sharing. Very sad. But, glad it is preserved so that others can learn of his sacrifice and know what true heroes are made of.

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  • 2 years later...

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