4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Share #1 Posted January 4, 2020 I haven’t had the chance to share anything I have gotten in the last 4 months or so but thought some may enjoy seeing some of this grouping. This is the incredible grouping of Sgt. Charles J. Wolfe of Farmington, West Virginia. Charles traveled from his small town in West Virginia to Baltimore, Maryland and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on January 30th, 1940. Charles would start out at the Marine Barracks, Naval Powder Factory, Indian Head, Maryland and would remain here until he joined E/2/5 of the 1st Marine Provisional Brigade FMF on the USS Harry Lee. By the time the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor in December of 1941 Wolfe was with E/2/5 which was designated as the 1st Marine Division in New River, North Carolina. By January of 1942, PFC Wolfe was awaiting orders to a Para attachment and participation in Para School. By March there would be only 336 officers and enlisted men in his unit and about 536 total Paramarines. After passing through Parachute school Charles was ready to ship out with the first parachute battalion that would see combat. In fact , Charles and his unit would be among the first American paratroopers to see combat at any capacity during WWII. PFC Charles Wolfe’s first taste of combat would come when his unit , Co C. 1st parachute bn, attached to the 1st marine division for Guadalcanal On Aug 7th landed on Guvutu island and Tasimboco raid. Charles would be wounded in action on Aug 8th and participated until 9-19-42 Charles wounding is described in James Christ’s book “ Battalion of the Damned : 1st Marine Paratroopers at Gavutu and Bloody Ridge, 1942”. Chris writes, “PFC Charles Wolfe took machine gun fire across the chest and left shoulder”. This happened while he was still in the landing craft approaching the beach of Gavutu. The book states that almost everyone approaching the beach got hit in some capacity that day. No one could be evacuated immediately. Next for Wolfe was Bougainville Nov 29 43 to Dec-15-43 consolidation northern Solomon’s To 1-12-44 he extended his enlistment for 2 more year and when the paramarines where disbanded he joined 1st bn 26th marines 5th marine division in time for Iwo Jima. Once again, on 2-21-45, Wolfe was wounded in action by wound fragments of his legs and arm. This would be the final bit of combat Wolfe would discharge on 2-11-46, almost a year after he was wounded on Iwo Jima. I could only getting around photographing half of the grouping. It has some amazing items Coat all original as he last wore it Purple Heart with ribbon His dog tags Japanese hunting license ID card Official card for passing the equator which is neat His med kit which still has all the original contents including an expired morphine pin Around 30-50 personal photos of him and his buddies A whole binder of original documents which have been amazing to read. His original Para rosters A photo of his parachute class The very hard to find Marine parachute completion certificate. A map that shows where he went throughout the South Pacific There’s tons more to it but I just photographed what I could for the time being and what I thought was neat! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200104/e47f14278b9e5156a3539bad6c828fe1.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200104/90df14dff0ca29a45b244b3352877713.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200104/878fec005383fd5e0219cdbc02755330.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200104/7c8663aa351efbec6f294dbdd93714f0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200104/3590d5b969ef09bd3cc0dabac41455ee.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200104/4a7f0849c68515e258ffac0eb784152c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200104/b1e3be5be7924c501e7ad0f9616ad5c1.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200104/23900b82e534532f22928dd5aed7621b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200104/ee4bbfe71f75b0d89c3c39eed4336d1c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200104/f83a49a3195fe5678631089d5350bd79.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200104/b771678fa2270c1df701b5094ec40f73.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #2 Posted January 4, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #3 Posted January 4, 2020 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted January 4, 2020 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #6 Posted January 4, 2020 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #7 Posted January 4, 2020 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #8 Posted January 4, 2020 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #9 Posted January 4, 2020 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #10 Posted January 4, 2020 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stony Posted January 4, 2020 Share #11 Posted January 4, 2020 Killer grouping, beautiful alpha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #12 Posted January 4, 2020 Killer grouping, beautiful alpha. Appreciate it! It was too neat not to share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pip Posted January 4, 2020 Share #13 Posted January 4, 2020 Nice, I love all the parts that come with the uniform! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dentino Posted January 4, 2020 Share #14 Posted January 4, 2020 Great write up on one of the nicest and most complete USMC Paratroop groupings I may have ever seen! What you have is a crown jewel to any WWII Para-Marine collector, let alone a WWII USMC general collector. This combination of documents and items is such a treasure. Congrats on owning and honoring this group. If I may ask, and I presume it is, but is the blouse named on the inside to Sgt. Wolfe? Thanks so much for sharing this, it is truly a special and significant group to a brave warrior of some of the hardest fought battles of the Pacific for the Marines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #15 Posted January 4, 2020 Great write up on one of the nicest and most complete USMC Paratroop groupings I may have ever seen! What you have is a crown jewel to any WWII Para-Marine collector, let alone a WWII USMC general collector. This combination of documents and items is such a treasure. Congrats on owning and honoring this group. If I may ask, and I presume it is, but is the blouse named on the inside to Sgt. Wolfe? Thanks so much for sharing this, it is truly a special and significant group to a brave warrior of some of the hardest fought battles of the Pacific for the Marines. I appreciate your kind words. I felt like I had to share it with how complete it is! There is some more documentation and some picture didn’t load. To answer your question it is named to Sgt. Wolfe! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #16 Posted January 4, 2020 Nice, I love all the parts that come with the uniform! I appreciate it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ww2marine Posted January 4, 2020 Share #17 Posted January 4, 2020 Really cool, complete group! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mes Posted January 4, 2020 Share #18 Posted January 4, 2020 Chris Great to see it again.I knew you would make a great caretaker of this fantastic group. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #19 Posted January 4, 2020 Chris Great to see it again.I knew you would make a great caretaker of this fantastic group. Mark I appreciate the opportunity! As always Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #20 Posted January 4, 2020 Really cool, complete group! for sure! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raidercollector Posted January 4, 2020 Share #21 Posted January 4, 2020 Chris. Very nice group. You find them, Keep digging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberwolf Posted January 4, 2020 Share #22 Posted January 4, 2020 Truly a fantastic grouping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgee Posted January 4, 2020 Share #23 Posted January 4, 2020 Outstanding group! Semper Fi ! Bobgee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieony Posted January 4, 2020 Share #24 Posted January 4, 2020 An outstanding group and tribute. Thank you for posting! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thraiders Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share #25 Posted January 4, 2020 Chris. Very nice group. You find them, Keep digging. thanks nick! Always will. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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