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Dog tags to Purple Heart recipients


bellasilva
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I posted these in a different thread and a couple members mentioned that a thread should be started where we can list all of our dog tags to confirmed purple heart recipients. Here are mine and I'd love to see yours. Let's try and stick to only confirmed purple heart recipients.

 

Captain James Reiley, 311th Machine Gun Battalion. Shelled and gassed by the Germans in France, 1918.

 

Sergeant Richard Stiras, United States Marine Corps, 2nd and 3rd Degree burns from a fire on Okinawa, May 1945.

 

Joseph Jacks, hit by shrapnel from an artillery barrage, somewhere in France, September 1944.

 

Lieutenant David Eells, hit by shrapnel from an artillery barrage in North Korea, July 1952.

 

And Paul Wysocki, 11th Infantry brigade. No details on his wounding. Somewhere in Vietnam, 1970.

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Here are mine Phil. Love this thread!

 

Lt. Hanel was in the 419th Armored Field Artillery, 10th Armored and was wounded December 19, 1944 from artillery fire in Bastogne.

 

Barr. Some info on him

SERVED FROM SEPTEMBER 11, 1942 UNTIL HIS DEATH ON MAY 2, 1944. SERVED WITH THE 3841ST QUARTERMASTER TRUCK COMPANY, 478TH QUARTERMASTER BATTALION. KILLED IN ACTION IN ASIA. AWARDED THE DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS, PURPLE HEART, AIR MEDAL WITH 2 OAK LEAF CLUSTERS AND THE GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL.

 

Captain Furrer received the Purple Heart and I believe it was in Belgium. He was in Company G, 117th Infantry, 30th Division. He also received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and CIB.

 

Calley was with the 660th Topographic Battalion and was killed in action when a V1 flying rocket hit England where he was stationed.

 

Henderson was in Hq co, 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR and received two Purple Hearts, one in Normandy and another in Bastogne.

 

Pease was in Company A, 504th PIR and received a Purple Heart in Sicily. He also received the silver star in Germany.

 

George Reinold was killed in action aboard the USS Indianapolis.

 

Salvador Lara was wounded in Italy and had received a DSC that was later upgraded to the MOH. He died of wounds after the war.

 

Isaac Privette was in Company A, 112th Infantry, 28th Division and was killed in action in the Hurtgen Forrest on November 8, 1944.

 

Raymond Leslie was in the 145th Infantry, 37th division and was wounded in Eyne, Belgium by shell fragments on November 4, 1918. He received the silver star for his actions.

 

John Belcak was in the 24th Marines, 4th marine division and was the recipient of 3 Purple Hearts along with a silver star. He was wounded 3 times. First July 9, 1944 on Saipan, then July 31 on Tinian and March 8 1945 on Iwo.

 

Kenneth Drew was in Company E, 18th Infantry, 1st Division and was killed in action on November 21, 1944 in the Hurtgen Forrest. I actually have his Purple Heart too.

 

James Reiley was in Company C, 311th Machine Gun Battalion, 79th Infantry Division. Reiley was on the front line in this area with his company until he was seriously wounded in action in October of 1918. He was hit by a shell while directing fire for his machine gunners when the Germans were advancing on them. 4 of his men were killed in the same blast, while he lied helpless on the battlefield for 8 hours, paralyzed in both legs and gassed. Phil (bellasilva) has the other tag!

 

Marion Hudson was in Underwater Demolition Team 9. He was wounded in Leyte on October 19, 1944 when a mortar shell hit his platoons landing craft.

 

Lt. McDonnell was aboard the USS Henrico and was killed in action when a kamikaze hit his ship off Okinawa on April 2, 1945.

 

John Knopf was a medic in the Medical Detachment, 517th PIR. He was wounded 3 times. Once on June 21, 1944 from shell fragments, but the other times I'm not sure when. He also received the bronze star.

 

Edwin Shanks was a B-25 pilot in the 100th Bomb Squadron, 42nd Bomb Group, 13th Air Force in the South Pacific. He flew 67 missions and was shot down over Rabaul and he received the Purple Heart.

 

Merl Beach was in Company G, 508th PIR in WWII and was in all of their campaigns and received the bronze star. He later served in Korea and was killed in action in January 7, 1952 while in the 32nd Infantry.

 

William Topping was in Battery F, 107th Field Artillery, 28th Division and received the Purple Heart in WWI.

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USdog -

 

Unreal set of tags! Seems like you have been waiting for this thread your whole life!

 

Off to a great start on this thread! Can't wait to see what is to come!

 

As an aside, I have found it much easier to find info. on my USMC and USN tags than on my US Army tags - I have lots of sets of Army tags I have picked up over the years and quite possibly they could have been guys who were WIA or KIA and even won medals but there just isn't a good way to research them. :(

 

Very best,

 

Bill K.

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Thanks for the the compliments guys... I'm hoping we will see some more from other members too.

 

Bill,

So true. USN and USMC tags are much easier the to find info on compared the Army tags. I have been very lucky to find what I have so far.

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Here is my humble offering.

 

Andrew H. Bubanas USMC, I/3/1 - WIA four times, once Guadalcanal, twice Peleliu, once Okinawa. For the Okinawa action he was awarded the Silver Star. (Patch is repro just threw it in for effect - no originals sitting out)

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Here's a close up - BTW, these must be a replacement set because he joined up in 1940 and was at Guadalcanal so would think his original tags would have featured an earlier "T" date. Though he could have well worn these at Peleliu and Okinawa. Also, the tags were pretty severely bent up - doesn't really show up in the photo - what you see are my modest efforts to straighten them out. I was reluctant to bend to hard - If anyone has any suggestions on how to totally flatten them out or flatten them out more please let me know.

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Yes, they are defiantly replacements. As for the bend on them, I would leave them as they are, too much of a risk IMO. Did you get his file yet?

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Yeah, I don't plan on messing with them anymore. As for his file, no haven't received anything yet - put in for it at least two, three months ago and nothing yet. Yet the last file I put in for last year info. came back within a few weeks. No telling with that place! IF I don't get anything soon may try an outside researcher.


Best,

Bill K.

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Also, thought the USMC and USN records are easier to research still so many of the WWII records don't record the serial numbers on the rosters, so if you have a somewhat common name even with serial number its difficult to know for sure which unit he served in.

 

Best,

 

Bill K.

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USdog -

 

Yes, noted the names of your tags - helps.

 

Incidentally, forgot to mention before, I have a named grouping of from a member of UDT #9 with Hudson - Ens. Howard A. Meineke - no dog tags unfortunately, but swim fins, mask, coral shoes, knife, few other items.

 

Best,

 

Bill K.

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Some amazing tags here. I really love those Bubanas tags. I remember watching them and hoping they'd be a sleeper but nope! Can't wait to see more

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bellasilva -

 

Unfortunately in some ways, Ancestry and free online access to things like the USMC casualty card database has made "sleeper" items at least for USMC stuff I think a thing of the past.

 

Very best,

 

Bill K.

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Sleepers for USMC tags are still out there. I got a fingerprint USMC tag to a dive bomber pilot in the pacific for $20 on auction on eBay not too long ago.

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Sleepers for USMC tags are still out there. I got a fingerprint USMC tag to a dive bomber pilot in the pacific for $20 on auction on eBay not too long ago.

 

Good to know! Though I usually stay away from single tags, probably stupid but I prefer sets.

 

Very best,

 

Bill K.

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  • 1 year later...

Pvt. Mark Ronald Lee, 1st Joint Assault Signal Company, 4th Marine Division. Wounded February 21st, 1945 on Iwo Jima.

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Major Albert Loughmiller, 82nd Airborne Division Field Artillery, wounded September 1943 in Italy. Served in Africa, Italy, Sicily, France, Germany, and Holland.

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