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Looking at a USMC WIA Okinawa Purple heart tomorrow


cplnorton
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Good luck getting it! Still trying to track down a nice named WW2 USN/USMC heart and even though this one is Korea I would still pick it up.

 

Philip

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Very sad, and I consider cases like this combat casualties of a different sort..."in the rear with the gear" has nothing to do with it. Who knows what he saw in WWII, or what traumatic experiences he lived with? Perhaps he was a retread that contributed his full measure in the Pacific, but was called upon again to serve in Korea. He went, and it got the best of him. We will never know, but a piece like this should be given the same respect we give other posthumous awards....

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Very sad, and I consider cases like this combat casualties of a different sort..."in the rear with the gear" has nothing to do with it. Who knows what he saw in WWII, or what traumatic experiences he lived with? Perhaps he was a retread that contributed his full measure in the Pacific, but was called upon again to serve in Korea. He went, and it got the best of him. We will never know, but a piece like this should be given the same respect we give other posthumous awards....

 

 

Well put.That is what I was trying to say but you really hit the nail on the head.May he and and all that gave the ultimate sacrifice rest in peace.

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Take the PH !!

It is a very tragic account of a two war veteran.

Take the heart and honor him !

 

In Uruzgan, Afganistan 2006 - 2010 we Dutch had 25 KIA. One of them took his own life. We honor him just as much as the other 24. Such a sad story, such a brave man and yet, in his darkest hours in Uruzgan, without his family close to him, he took his own life.

 

Honor this man and buy the medal !

 

Bad karma is what YOU make of it.

 

Just my two pence.

Regards

Herman

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Well I went ahead and picked it up today. It really is sad to think about. I had a good friend who did the same thing in Iraq when I was in the Marines. I've never understood why anyone would feel that is the only option. But it's hard saying what was going on in this Marines life.

 

I still am not sure how he got a purple heart for a suicide. But I did find some reference he was wounded on Okinawa. Maybe this purple heart was a reference to Okinawa, I don't know.

 

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he was wounded on Okinawa and since he died in the service in korea it was presented to his NOK for his wwii wounds . Its a great heart ! Honor him !! No one should judge him IMO he was a brave 2 war warrior ! He may of had PTSD or who knows !!! And for $500 a great price for a KW USMC heart i would be proud to own it !

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If his personal gun accidentally discharged, would his records state "self-inflicted" wound? Could this have been an accidental death and not a suicide? I remember in BOB when the soldier's luger accidentally discharged and he bled to death from the wound.

 

Just wondering.....Kat

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If his personal gun accidentally discharged, would his records state "self-inflicted" wound? Could this have been an accidental death and not a suicide? I remember in BOB when the soldier's luger accidentally discharged and he bled to death from the wound.

 

Just wondering.....Kat

 

Intresting

 

I recently got my relatives records and he was denied a purple heart for wounds.I believe they called "negligence" on his part.He was de-arming a 60mm mortar round and it went off.Even has copies of letters he wrote a few years ago making a request.Some how he recieved the PH 3 weeks beofre he passed.According to the other family members he was wounded twice during the war.Sometimes the records leave more questions than answers.

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I am really starting to think this purple heart is for the wounds he received in Okinawa. I know at the end of the war, the Marines acquired some army purple hearts. Maybe he wasn't awarded it until after the war was done, and that is why it was engraved? Or after he died in Korea, maybe an officer somehow put him in for an engraved purple heart for his wounds received in WWII and then gave it to the family. Sort of doing something nice for the family.

 

Does anyone have the purple heart list for the 6th Division from Okinawa?

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Hmmm...this has actually been explained twice in this thread. If he was wounded in WWII, when he died in Korea the government would have provided his family w/ an engraved set of the medals he rated.

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McCrea,William E is listed in the 6th Marine Divison's WW2 unit history as having received a Purple Heart.

 

 

That makes me feel better it is awarded for wounds in Okinawa, and not for the other reason.

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Either way it's a nice group.I thought you were just getting the medal.The patch a tags add a lot.Like I and others have stated before, he was a 2 war vet, and not in nice places either.You should be honored to be the holder of his Purple Heart.Enough said.Glad I could help you out.

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There are plenty of flukes in PH's...we've seen them discussed here before...

 

We've seen them awarded for blue-on-blue, etc, because their officer wrote them up with some fancy word play, so that the family wouldn't be embarrassed or ashamed. It was to protect the dignity of the troop

 

Many people consider suicides psychological wounds that are caused by the enemy, and thus really makes him a casualty of the war itself. Wouldn't be unheard of for a commander to bend the truth. I'm sure the screening process wasn't as thorough and absolute as it is today, especially with the sheer volume of men being put in for them in those bloody battles

 

Someone needs to honor him, suicide or not. Chances are good that the 2 wars had an impact. I've known a handful of guys who killed themselves in the service, some people can handle a lot more than others, but every man has his breaking point.

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A very sad story indeed. Rest in peace Marine.

 

I have two medal groups to Marines that killed themselves after WW2. One drank himself to death as confirmed in his paperwork. Hard to get the Pacific War out of their heads. Unspeakable horrors.

 

There was probably two Purple Hearts issued to him, an unnamed one in 1945 as well as this one. Note that this Heart is engraved Sgt., the rank he held in Korea.

 

Regards,

 

The Wharfmaster

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