Leslie Harold Sutton was born in 1920 in Collinsville, IL. He enlisted Jan 14, 1942 at St Louis and served in the 3rd Marine Division. This trunk was pulled out of the attic of his widdow two weeks ago, where it had been for the last 65 years. Everything but the neck ties, m-43 and khaki shirt are named to Sutton.

Sea bag markings with 3rd Mar Div diamond and 736, also Co. E 3 MED

Shipping label on seabag reads Pl Sgt L H Sutton Marine Bar. Navy Yard Charleston S.C.
Also M-37 EGA

The name in the barracks cover is writen on the back of a Lucky Strikes pack. The cover has one small abrasion damage on edge of visor and is missing the chinstrap but the frame and sweatband are remarkable

embroidered on felt 3rd Div patch (its a beauty) and a felt on wool discharge diamond. The jacket is '44 dated, so I am inclined to suspect that he may have been at Bougainville with the division and possibly at Guam.

Im headed to the Library this afternoon to try to pull his obit.

Notification of enlistment, sent to his mother

I thought this was interesting. There are 8 traditional ties in the group, but two of these.

So, the complete group consists of :
'43 dated foot locker
seabag
overcoat with left side only Pl Sgt insignia (the moths got to it though)
alpha blouse with m-37 insignia
barracks cover with m-37 bird and rain cover
8 neck ties and 2 clip ons
an m-43
enlistment paperwork
'40s swim trunks
khaki shirt
2 pair trousers (the moths had some fun with these though)

Stinger,
Glad you got the group.You mentioned ties.I know a guy who was asking $20 each for USMC WW2 ties.Course he is always hihg on his stuff.
I found some last summer for $2 each.

Nice looking group.

RD

Very nice grouping, glad you went for it also! I would like to add a white diamond discharge uniform to my collection too.

This is my first uniform with the white diamond. I had always heard that they were not used after '43 but this blouse is dated '44 so I guess they used them all the way up to the end of the war and intro of the ruptured duck discharge insignia?

That looks like a great grouping!

well the seller got a hold of me and told me that there were two other items from the veteran that he forgot to include in the sale. I stoped by to have a look. 1st is a 18 or 20" 1942 dated Navy machete with an anchor in the blade near the handle. The other is a USMC marked Hospital Corpsman's bolo, unfortunatly this had been badly pitted and the guy sand blasted it Also the handles were damaged so he made new ones from mahoganey (he did a decent job though) Neither of the knifes have scabbards and he wants $50 for the pair. Im no knife guy so im kinda in the dark on value. I almost cried when I seen that he sandblasted that bolo though He said he would hold on to them for a week before offering them to anyone else. I emailed for photos, but havent gotten a response yet. What do you guys think?

Today was a great research day for Pl Sgt Sutton. I went over to the local library and pulled his obit. from microfilm which verifies him as a WWII USMC veteran and lists him as a past commandant of the Local chapter of the Marine Corps League, and life member of both the VFW and Am Legion. In the next week or two I'll make the trip to the cemetery to get a gravesite photo.

I also went over to the courthouse and pulled his Discharge Certificate and was very pleased with what I found out. It verifies him as a Plt Sergeant and that he was discharged from M.B. Navy Yard, Charleston, SC which matches the address tag on the seabag. He was discharged on March 15, 1945. It lists no reason for discharge other than his character was excelent and does mention that he required no further medical treatment or hospitalization.

His Overseas service follows:
Acting First Sergeant of E Co. 3rd Medical BN, 3rd Marine Division
Service in South and Central Pacific, Feb 23, 1943 to Jan 3, 1945.
Battles:
Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Nov 1, 1943 - Dec 15, 1943.
Assault and occupation of Guam, M.I., Jul 21, 1944 - Aug 10, 1944.

It lists wounds received as none but alludes to having been hospitalized so I wonder if he suffered from malaria or combat fatigue or some other medical issue causing his early discharge?

I looked in the 3rd Division history and E Co, 3rd MED was attached to 9th RCT

I was very pleased that everything from the grouping fall right into place with his paperwork!
I had never known that USMC personnel were also part of the Medical units, I guess you learn something every day!

James,

Does the paperwork indicate anywhere if Sgt. Sutton was an active Marine or if he was a reservist? It is possible he was in the regular Marine Corps and served out his 2 year enlistment (if I recall at that time they still had 2 year enlistments) and was discharged (thus the reason he is entitled to wear the discharge diamond patch). Everything I have read about the discharge diamond patch is that it was worn by members of the active duty Marine Corps upon completion of their term of enlistment (during wartime) or they were medically discharged due to wounds or illness received while overseas.

The discharge diamond patch was worn up until the end of the war when they came out with the ruptured duck discharge patch indicative of post war discharge for reservists upon completion of their term of enlistment which was for the duration of the war + 6 months.

You probably already know this but it's good reading for anyone that comes behind and reads this thread.

Congrats on this fantastic addition to your collection . . . for $200.00 you did very well . . . I've see discharge diamond patches go for $100.00 +.

Wonderful snag James glad to see that you got it!
Semper Fidelis,
Colin