Cpl. Punishment Posted March 7, 2018 Share #1 Posted March 7, 2018 Hello all, Spoiler alert..... THE VET IS STILL ALIVE!!! So as most of you know, I am generally only an ETO collector however, when I saw this group come up, I knew I couldnt pass it up! I saw this group come up for auction, and when I began talking with the auctioneer about who the uniforms belonged to, he noted that the 94 year old veteran was still around in a local nursing home! I set an absentee and crossed my fingers. As you may have guessed... I got very lucky! I just recently went to interview the veteran as well as I was able to get photos with the veteran and the uniforms. I will not release any information on the veteran, nor will I post pictures of him to protect his privacy. The man was full of stories and talked about how his amtrac was lucky enough to have made it to red beach 2 in the first wave of the landing on Tarawa. The veteran noted that besides the guys who had just landed on red beach 1, his amtrac was the very first amtrac to hit red beach 2 under heavy fire. He was shot as he climbed over the side of the amtrac (a grenade landed inside). He ran to the coconut log wall on the beach to wait fir the rest of his machine gun group. He was one of 6 men in his machine gun squad, and only one other man survived. Once on the beach and taking cover behind the wall, the veteran noted how a molotov cocktail had been thrown over the wall by the Japanese and landed on him. The glass cut an artery in his hand, and the man by him helped to put out the fire. Another Marine came to set TNT in the coconut log wall but used the wrong fuse. He kept trying to light the fuse when it was supposed to be detonated. So he just wedged the TNT into the wall. Shortly after, a mortar round went off next to this spot and detonated the TNT blowing the man 10-15 feet from the wall leaving him full of shrapnel and unconcious. When he finally came to, he noticed the man who helped put him out from the molotov had been killed by the concussion. He got up and ran back to the wall. It was close to the end if the battle before he could be evacuated and even as he was running to the evac boat, they were being shot at. He spent 4 months in Hawaii recovering, and then to San Diego to discharge (where he thought he had the custom ribbon bar made on his alphas. He couldnt quite remember). He tried rejoining his men for the next islands, but the corpsman in charge told him due to his severe concussion, he was to be discharged. He couldnt even go through prepersrions without having constant medication for his head which sustained a lot of injury from the explosion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl. Punishment Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share #2 Posted March 7, 2018 Notice the m1937 H & H officer EGAs. These were the original EGAs that were on this uniform. As i went to unscrew the back to see how they had aged, there is solid and consistent oxidation on the backings. They have not been touched since the war so they are to be left alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl. Punishment Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share #3 Posted March 7, 2018 Here are his alphas. The only flaws with the uniforms is once apon a time, a mouse had eaten small ares around the interior neck of the uniforms which isnt noticaboe when being displayed and dont detract drom the uniforms at all. I dont feel that it hurts the value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl. Punishment Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share #4 Posted March 7, 2018 Interesting to note that his visor cap also has a matching officers ega to make a complete set. Please also note that these photos were taken prior to me lint rolling them! The dress pants were also in the group. The blue pants are well worn and the veteran noted he wore them to work in after the war! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl. Punishment Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share #5 Posted March 7, 2018 A couple interesting facts about the veteran are that he actually still has the bullet lodged in his arm, as well as a visible piece of shrapnel in his finger. He told me that the corpsman offered to take the shrapnel out of his hand however, he said it made for a cool souvenir so he kept it in. He tells people it is a bit of our scrap metal that we had exported to Japan in the 30’s! He also talked about how when he arrived in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii after Tarawa, Admiral Nimitz himself was greeting troops as they stepped off the gangplank. One marine was carrying a japanese sword which Nimitz noticed and pulled out his checkbook. Nimitz told the young Marine that he would pay him $300 for the sword. The Marine looks up at him and said “No thanks sir, if you want one of these, you can go get one the way I got mine.” Nimitz grinned at this comment and the Marine carried on down the gangplank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl. Punishment Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share #6 Posted March 7, 2018 Also, the man was Co. G 2/2 2nd Marine Division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonlight Gecko Posted March 7, 2018 Share #7 Posted March 7, 2018 Amazing group to a Tarawa vet! congratulations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VenitHora Posted March 7, 2018 Share #8 Posted March 7, 2018 Great group! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted March 7, 2018 Share #9 Posted March 7, 2018 Great Grouping! I have a relative who fought on Tarawa, name was John Delfield, don't know for sure what unit he served in but you could mention him see if they knew each other! Thanks for sharing this awesome group though!Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mes Posted March 7, 2018 Share #10 Posted March 7, 2018 Great group. Very rare that you able to talk to this hero and document his service. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieony Posted March 7, 2018 Share #11 Posted March 7, 2018 An outstanding uniform group! It's not often that you get to actually speak to the veteran anymore! Thank you for posting. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl. Punishment Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share #12 Posted March 7, 2018 Thank you guys for the kind comments! There are more stories the veteran had to tell which I will post later on today. It was really an honor to meet this man! It has always been my dream to get an item right from the veteran and I am very happy to have fulfilled that collecting dream! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl. Punishment Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share #13 Posted March 7, 2018 Great Grouping! I have a relative who fought on Tarawa, name was John Delfield, don't know for sure what unit he served in but you could mention him see if they knew each other! Thanks for sharing this awesome group though! Hunt Unfortunately, this veteran did not remember names very well. The only name he mentioned was Kenneth OReike or ORourick from Missouri who he had been friends with. He also mentioned that the man next to him who had been killed by the concussion of the mortar and TNT blast was a man from Michigan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDermut99 Posted March 7, 2018 Share #14 Posted March 7, 2018 Amazing uniforms to an even more amazing Marine! Also a great example of a early Navy PUC with a blue star device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Barickman Posted March 8, 2018 Share #15 Posted March 8, 2018 You know I love this one! I have seen multiple times where enlisted men would wear officer insignia and especially early war Marines such as this one. Congrats, great uniform grouping. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl. Punishment Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share #16 Posted March 8, 2018 You know I love this one! I have seen multiple times where enlisted men would wear officer insignia and especially early war Marines such as this one. Congrats, great uniform grouping. Kurt Thanks Kurt! I am not generally a PTO collector, however this was a jewel and I couldnt resist! I am still not a PTO collector but lets just say, I will be picking up any 2nd Marine Division items related to Tarawa! Now I just need to find a nice Japanese souvenir from the naval landing forces! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Barickman Posted March 8, 2018 Share #17 Posted March 8, 2018 Thanks Kurt! I am not generally a PTO collector, however this was a jewel and I couldnt resist! I am still not a PTO collector but lets just say, I will be picking up any 2nd Marine Division items related to Tarawa! Now I just need to find a nice Japanese souvenir from the naval landing forces! Good luck with the SNLF souvenir pickup, Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dentino Posted March 8, 2018 Share #18 Posted March 8, 2018 What an exceptional pick up, and meeting the vet as well! Doesn't get much better that this......I absolutely LOVE patched blues and those EGA's are a nice added "bling" to the whole thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl. Punishment Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share #19 Posted March 8, 2018 I thought the officer EGAs were a nice touch! The uniforms are really outstanding and i am pleased to be their new caretaker! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dentino Posted March 8, 2018 Share #20 Posted March 8, 2018 I thought the officer EGAs were a nice touch! The uniforms are really outstanding and i am pleased to be their new caretaker! Forgot to add those belts are tough to find as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patchcollector Posted March 8, 2018 Share #21 Posted March 8, 2018 Nice uniforms and an awesome story.If the Vet is willing,take a camera and record some of his recollections.You can use them for provenance and they can also become part of the public historical record. Here is a link to some info about the Veterans History Project.: http://www.loc.gov/vets/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Barickman Posted March 8, 2018 Share #22 Posted March 8, 2018 Patched blues are very nice and especially with the original ribbons. The white discharge diamond greens are also very desirable as they are difficult to find as well. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl. Punishment Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share #23 Posted March 8, 2018 Thanks guys! I did get photos of the veteran with myself as well as the uniforms. I have his interview video taped as well. Thank you for the kind words Kurt! The brass buckled belt was hung up to long that the rubber material is essentially dried stiff. the other white belt that would be used for the trousers has supple leather and is in good shape. This marine did not write his name in any of the uniforms so I made sure to get photos of him and the uniforms for provenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl. Punishment Posted March 9, 2018 Author Share #24 Posted March 9, 2018 Here is the veteran! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDogMilitaria Posted March 9, 2018 Share #25 Posted March 9, 2018 I really like how you put this whole thing together. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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