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China Marine Medal Group


RobertE
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Simply unreal! Congrats for being the care taker and for sharing images of this unequalled group! Medal 1....priceless.

 

I think BobGee and several other medal guys on this forum are going to also enjoy seeing this thread!

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Amazing group. I'm particularly fond of the mini medal stack...you rarely see pre-war mounted USMC Minis!

 

Top quality, cornerstone piece you've shared with us!

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It is great to have some fellow Marine collectors to share these with. Harry Schmidt led a platoon-sized relief expedition into Chefoo in 1912 as a 2nd Lieutenant, and finished as the CLF for all Marines on Iwo Jima in 1945 - plus occupation duty.

 

A hard-hitting Marine, for certain.

 

Does anyone know why he would mount his WWI Victory backward on both his full sized and miniature medals? Couldn't have been an oversight - he'd have known better.

 

s/f Robert

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It is great to have some fellow Marine collectors to share these with. Harry Schmidt led a platoon-sized relief expedition into Chefoo in 1912 as a 2nd Lieutenant, and finished as the CLF for all Marines on Iwo Jima in 1945 - plus occupation duty.

 

A hard-hitting Marine, for certain.

 

Does anyone know why he would mount his WWI Victory backward on both his full sized and miniature medals? Couldn't have been an oversight - he'd have known better.

 

s/f Robert

Perhaps he didn't like the design on the front, or perhaps he simply preferred the rear design. Not an unheard of practice, I once owned a pre-WWII mini group where the 2nd Nic campaign medal was mounted backwards, and currently own a mounted rack to a Marine who served in WWII and Korea, twice wounded, and mounted his American Campaign backwards. I have photos of him on embassy duty in Ireland wearing it with the medallion backwards, even, all the way into the mid-50s!

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His career deserves to be told as he was more than a China Marine; I believe his experiences in amphibious operations early on served the military well during WWII and beyond.

 

Harry Schmidt was born in Holdrege, Nebraska, on 25 September 1886. He attended Nebraska State Normal College before entering the U.S. Marine Corps as a second lieutenant on 17 August 1909.

 

Following instruction at the Marine Officers' School at Port Royal, South Carolina, he reported in January 1911, at the Marine Barracks, Guam, Mariana Islands. While attached to this station, he accompanied an expeditionary force to Chefoo, China. In October 1912, he was ordered to duty in the Philippines where he remained until detached to the United States in April 1913.

 

Following an assignment with the Recruiting Service in Minnesota, a tour of duty at the Marine Barracks, New Orleans, Louisiana, and temporary duty at Veracruz aboard USS Kearsarge (BB-5) in 1915, he was ordered to sea duty aboard USS Oklahoma (BB-37) in May 1916. In January 1917, he went aboard USS Montana (ACR-13) and from 25 February to 22 March 1917, was ashore with the ship's landing force at Guantanamo, Cuba. Leaving USS Montana in September 1918, he spent most of the next two years at the Marine Barracks, Norfolk, Virginia. He again went to sea in June 1920, as Commanding Officer of the Marine Detachment aboard USS Tennessee (BB-43).

 

From August 1922 to May 1926, Schmidt was a member of the Marine Corps Schools, first as a student, then as an instructor. He then served a year in recruiting at St. Paul, Minnesota, and a six-month tour of Foreign Service with the Sixth Regiment in China. From February 1928 to June 1929, Schmidt was with the Second Brigade of Marines in Nicaragua as Brigade Intelligence and Operations Officer.

 

He returned to the United States to attend the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and graduated on 18 June 1932. In addition to Command and General Staff School, he is a graduate of the Field Officers' Course, Marine Corps Schools, MCB Quantico, Virginia. Following graduation, he was assigned to duty with the Paymaster Department and served variously at Headquarters, Marine Corps, Washington, D.C.; with the Department of the Pacific, San Francisco; the Fourth Marine Regiment, Shanghai, China; and again with the Department of the Pacific.

 

In June 1937, he was assigned to the Second Marine Brigade. He sailed for Shanghai, China, in August with the Brigade as Chief of Staff and served in that capacity until detached to the United States in February 1938.

 

Schmidt was assigned to Headquarters, Marine Corps as Executive and Personnel Officer of the Paymaster Department in July 1938, in which capacity he was found upon the country's entry into World War II.

 

In January 1942, he was appointed Assistant to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, where he served until ordered to the Fourth Marine Division as Commanding General, which command he assumed on 18 August 1943.

 

He commanded the Fourth Division in the seizure of Roi-Namur in the Battle of Kwajalein and in the battle for Saipan. On 12 July 1944, he assumed command of the Fifth Amphibious Corps and led that command in the assault and capture of Tinian Island. For exceptional meritorious service in the seizure and occupation of the Marshall Islands and in the assault and capture of Saipan and Tinian, General Schmidt was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal and a Gold Star in lieu of a second Distinguished Service Medal. Continuing in command of the Fifth Amphibious Corps, the General led it through the Iwo Jima operation.

 

Following the conclusion of hostilities, the General led the Fifth Corps in the occupation of the Japanese homeland. On 15 February 1946, he was ordered back to the United States to assume command of the Marine Training and Replacement Command, San Diego Area, California. He served in that capacity until he concluded his 39-year career as a Marine on 1 July 1948, when he was advanced to the four-star rank of General upon retirement at the age of 61. General Schmidt died 10 February 1968.

 

A link of his awards http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=8929

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The name really pops. I've been undergoing a couple of extensive research projects, and I feel as if I may have seen his name on the Rolls of at least one of them. Will have to go through my notes and see if perhaps they had crossed paths

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I agree, and thanks for posting this background. Beyond his official biography, there were other lesser known points about this Marine that rate mentioning. Among the 110,000 Marines from the three Marine divisions he commanded on Iwo Jima was his only son, fighting as a tank commander, and his son-in-law flying close air support - both were not among the roughly 26,000 casualties we suffered on that island.

 

He refused to talk about Iwo Jima, and reluctantly contributed to the official Marine Corps series on the war. He was vocal about other aspects, though, and authored a number of articles about what a Marine should and should not be while he was on recruiting duty.

 

It's great there are so many folks with an interest in this aspect of our history on this forum. Thanks again for reviewing this thread.

 

s/f Robert

 

His career deserves to be told as he was more than a China Marine; I believe his experiences in amphibious operations early on served the military well during WWII and beyond.

 

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Once you start digging in deep around here, you'll find that there are many amazing groupings with equally amazing research, and some die-hard and dedicated Marine collectors out there willing to put more time and money into the research than they did simply acquiring the items! Many of these are current and former Marines, while many others still are not

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USMC Yangtze Service medal M.No. 1, nice. Do you mind telling the rim numbers of his service medals?

The China Service Medal is number 1, I believe, not the Yangtze

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Right you are. I wasn't thinking since the Navy China's aren't numbered. Amazing, large group and those would be some good #s to add to your database.

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Thanks for the welcome, DM. As far as medal numbers, both the Nicaraguan valor medals (the blue ones lower right) are unnumbered, as are his top three.

 

Expeditionary: M.No. 1240

 

Mexico: 2240

 

Yangtze: M.No. 73

 

2nd Nic: M.No. 913

 

China: 1

 

s/f Robert

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