Need help with this USMC 2nd Division uniform, Most Likely POW

[cplnorton]

I have reached a dead end in my research on this one and I hope you guys can help me. I bought this uniform a while ago and I just can't figure it out. It appears most likely he was a POW from the Phillipines that was liberated at the wars end and attached to the 2nd Marine Division. In the pocket are pictures of Nagasaki after the atomic bomb and from what I can research a lot of Japanese Pow's were processed thru that area after the bombing.

 

He also has a Purple Heart, and a Bronze Star. The only name I can find is on the inside of the pants. But I just make it out for sure. I have tried to research POW names from the Phillipines trying to find a match, but I just can't make this one out.

 

Any help would be appreciated. This one has kept me at night for hours trying to figure out that name.

 

 

 

 

[Patriot]

I can't offer anything as to who the man was, but I LOVE that rack. You don't see too many sewn on racks like this.

[cplnorton]

Yeah it's pretty cool. They were mounted on a piece of cloth and then the cloth was sewn on the uniform. I don't know if it comes across in the pics, but it is so neat.

[Kurt Barickman]

Hi, saw this when Keith had it last year at a show in Chicago. I passed because I couldn't make out a clear name. We talked at length and I am sure that he was a POW and maybe attached after liberation to the 2nd Marine Division when they were in occupation in Japan. Cool uniform and rack to be sure. Good luck.

 

Kurt

[KySoldier]

I believe all former POW's were transported back to the states after liberation as soon as their health permitted.

[uplandmod]

The best way I figured out names like that is converting the image into a negative in illustrator you can mess with the levels and bring out details you can't see with the normal eye. Then in ancestry use letter substitution to figure out what the name might be its long and tetius and it takes a few times but I do eventually figure it out.

 

Good luck!

[cplnorton]

Hey are you talking about adobe illustrator? I found it, but it's a 20 buck a month membership fee. Is that what you use?

[uplandmod]

I sent you PM

 

Thanks!

LF

[cplnorton]

Hey I just got a named khaki shirt and khaki pants from the dealer that sold me the original uniform. He also had a 2nd Division Occupation of Japan photo book as well that I got.

 

He said the estate found these items when they were clearing out more and they would have belonged to the coat above. The khaki shirt has a second division patch and corporal chevrons and a ruptured duck. So it appears it might all belong to the uniform that I have above.

 

It has a different name in it. The name is E.M. Kline. Or E.H. Kline. I think it is E.M. though.

 

I cannot find anything on a E.M. Kline. Anyone have any ideas? I have searched Ancestry, and all POW rosters I have found. It's almost like he is a Ghost. Any help would be appreciated!

[uplandmod]

Can. We see a picture if the shirt and stamp?

 

Thanks!

[cplnorton]

Here you go Leonardo. Thank you sir!

 

It's name once in the shirt, and twice in the trousers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pathfinder505]

Don't know if this is your guy or not but found this:

U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010
about Edward Kline

Name: Edward Kline Gender: Male Birth Date: 15 Dec 1925 Death Date: 21 Apr 2001 SSN: 184283621 Branch 1: M Enlistment Date 1: 7 Mar 1944 Release Date 1: 28 May 1946

 

 

Find a Grave:

 

Birth: Dec. 15, 1925
Lehigh County
Pennsylvania, USA Death: Apr. 21, 2001
Montgomery County
Pennsylvania, USA Burial:
Star of David Memorial Gardens
North Lauderdale
Broward County
Florida, USA

[etienne]

For the shirt and trousers, I'm pretty sure it's E.H.Kline ... and I'm confident it's Elmer H.Kline belonging to 3rd Bn 2nd Marines 2nd MarDiv in january 1945.

[cplnorton]

For the shirt and trousers, I'm pretty sure it's E.H.Kline ... and I'm confident it's Elmer H.Kline belonging to 3rd Bn 2nd Marines 2nd MarDiv in january 1945.

 

I think you are right. If that is the case, then it wouldn't be the owner of the coat. He would have served at least in 41/42.

[uplandmod]

I think it's his coat and somewhere along the line the wrong ribbons were put on especially if it came from the same estate.

 

Any unual extra holes in the ribbon area?

 

I feel you got the right guy.

Those shirts are amazing!

 

LF

[uplandmod]

Ah I see has a four year stripe and he only served 2 years. Still got a winner with those shirts!

 

LF

[cplnorton]

What happened is a big collector died. And about four collectors went in and split the up the collection. The dealer I got the stuff from said the estate found these when they were cleaning up more, and he said the coat above was the only second Marine division stuff that came out of the collection. So he thought they should all belong to the same guy.

 

If he was a POW he could have scrounded up all the uniforms as well and never renamed them. It's hard saying. But I just checked the coat and the service stripe is machine sewn on. I would bet I still don't have the name.