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USMC Memorial - Wellington, New Zealand


Kiwi65
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Not sure if this comes under militaria but it is US military related. I was in Wellington recently & found the USMC 2nd Division memorial on the waterfront, right where the ships which carried the 2nd Division berthed and left for the Pacific campaign.

I had read about this memorial in 'One Square Mile Of Hell' by John Wukovits so went searching for it.

The memorial is a great dedication to the USMC & the excellent relationship they had with the people of New Zealand.

Here are some photos.

post-6029-1298324268.jpg

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Thats great Trumper, I'm in Auckland and have been doing a bit of research, it seems to be an all but forgotten part of our war history, 90% of the populations don't even know we had US Army and Marines here in large numbers, I am currently spearheading a 3rd Marine Division unit for my reenactment group so we can display and educate the public.

 

Here 's the sign i've made for displays

180867_10150091676303632_620388631_6060201_1251169_n.jpg

 

Its great that there is still forms of acknowledgement about, i've gone looking for a couple of plaques here in place i've been told there should be one and they have gone.

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Kurt Barickman

Thanks for posting that great memorial. I am the historian of the 2nd Marine Division Minnesota Chapter and although we have lost a bunch of great Guadalcanal and Tarawa veterans who were in Wellington, all the remaining vets speak highly of the New Zealanders and this is a great post to their memory and hospitality.

 

Kurt Barickamn

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I agree with Kurt, my grandfather speaks most highly of his time in New Zealand while he was with the 6th Marines from the Summer of 1942 until January 1944. Paekakariki, NZ and how absolutely wonderful the people were. When I took him back to Iwo Jima where he served with the 27th Marines in March of 2009, we met a young man named Ritchie from New Zealand who came along as a historian and enthusist. He was an absolutely great guy and just made our vets feel so appreciated and just held them in absolute high esteem and still keeps in contact with us. He brought each one of them gifts from his home country and letters of thank you from school kids! This is 2 generations removed from WWII and they are still so incredibly aware of the sacrifices made. I spoke a lot with him about that nation's awareness of WWII and he says that as a country it is still very very much in the national conscience and transends the generation gap since WWII. Wish we could adopt that same degree of comprehension here in this country sometimes. It was a great experience and I'm so glad to see that memorial. I'll have to show grandpa that picture he'll be happy to see that.

Semper Fi,

Kevin

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So sorry to hear about the devastating 'quake which struck Christchurch, NZ, today. My daughter and boyfriend are currently touring NZ but are thankfully currently in Auckland on the North Island. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

Sabrejet

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That is very cool!

Aussies and New Zealanders seem to hold the Marines in very high regard. Some of my Marine friends who went to the Shoalwater Bay training area in AU a few years ago said there were signs up saying "Thanks for WWII, Marines!" and things like that, and that the local people were exceptionally friendly to them. Something tells me they wouldn't get the same reception in Tripoli or Saigon. :D

 

Thanks for posting these photos.

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