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Dog tags from IWO JIMA Vets.... Post some!


USdog
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Here are some tags I have accumulated that are related to the Battle of Iwo Jima. Thought I'd post them for the 70th anniversary of the battle. Please post them if you have them. Enjoy!

 

From left to right.

 

Robert Schwindt was in the 4th Medical Battalion, 4th Marine Division. In early 1944 he fought at the Battle of Kwajalein, the Battle of Saipan and Tinian in mid-1944, and fought during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

 

Jack M. Perry was a US Navy corpsman and was with the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division and was at Bougainville, Guam, and Iwo Jima. He was a Purple Heart recipient.

 

Vinton W. Craven served on the USS Idaho and bombarded Iwo Jima as the marines went ashore in 19 February.

 

George Reinold was part of the marine detachment on the USS Indianapolis and was there when the ship was part of the invasion force off Iwo Jima and provided fire support until 25 February. He was later lost at sea when the ship was sunk on 30 July 1945.

 

Forest Culver fought at the Battle of Iwo Jima as a mechanic in Company A, 5th Motor Transport Battalion, 5th Marine Division.

 

John P. Belcak was in Company L, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division. He was a BAR gunner and first participated in the Battle of Kwajalein Atoll in February 1944. Later in June, he fought at the Battle of Saipan where he was wounded for the first time on 9 July 1944 and later received the silver star.

 

The citation:

 

"The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Private First Class John P. Belcak (MCSN: 479379), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as an Automatic Rifleman, while serving with Company L, Third Battalion, Twenty-Fourth Marines (Reinforced), FOURTH Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on the Island of Saipan, Marianas Group, 12 July 1944. When a member of his patrol was killed by an enemy rifleman located on a rocky ledge during mopping up operations, Private First Class Belcak unhesitatingly scaled the cliff and, despite heavy hostile fire, closed in and single-handedly killed the Japanese soldier. His outstanding fortitude, cool courage and continued aggressiveness despite painful wounds received on three separate occasions, served as an inspiration to his comrades and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service"

 

In late July 1944, he fought at the Battle of Tinian, where he was wounded for a second time on 31 July 1944.

 

He then landed at Iwo Jima. He was wounded for a third time on 8 March 1945. .

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Here is another...

 

James Smith was in Company A, 20th Marines, 4th Marine Division and fought at the Battle of Kwajalein, Saipan, and Tinian.

 

The unit was deactivated 31 August 1944 and he was transferred to the 4th Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division and fought at the Battle of Iwo Jima.

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Michael Passarella was in the 8th Naval Construction Battalion. They arrived off of Iwo Jima on 2 March 1945. The next day the 8th CB's landed on Iwo. They stayed there until late September 1945.

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This sailor was aboard the Attack Transport USS Feland at Iwo Jima. He was also on the ship for the invasions of Tarawa, Saipan, Guam and the Philippines.

 

He was serving aboard USS San Francisco at Pearl Harbor on December 7th and the early Pacific battles of 1942 also.

 

 

 

 

 

Wharf

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My Grandfather's

 

 

I'll have to dig out his paperwork, but if I remember correctly he was in Battery B, 14th Marines.

 

The patch and EGA are his as well.

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Awesome thread man. This is my only Iwo related tag nowadays..Lawrence Mckinley served on the USS Napa, an attack transport that offloaded some of the first Marines to hit the beaches on Iwo 70 years ago.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Here are some more. 6 tags all to the same corpsman who was at Guam and Iwo with the 9th Marines. You can see his full story on my website.

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Just picked a Paramarine grouping, he was with B/1/28 at Iwo and was WIA on Suribachi.

 

A single dogtag was in the grouping:

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In the photo he's showing off his "Mary" while in Hawaii, December 1944.

 

 

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Just picked a Paramarine grouping, he was with B/1/28 at Iwo and was WIA on Suribachi.

 

A single dogtag was in the grouping:

attachicon.gif MMS.jpg

 

In the photo he's showing off his "Mary" while in Hawaii, December 1944.

 

 

Wow! Awesome tag. Thanks for posting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello gents,

 

took me some time to check the researches and take photos, etc. but here are my Iwo Jima dogtags ... first of all, some singles :

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Some awesome Iwo tags! Too cool that you've got a tag to a marine that was in the same company as the flag raisers.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello gents,

 

here are my to last Iwo Jima dog tags ... found them recently.

 

You'll notice that the corpsman participated in Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns.

 

E

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