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Navy Minesweeper Purple Heart Uniform


36thIDAlex
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Hello everyone,

 

A few weeks back I picked this one off of another forum member, not all that common a unit and a Purple Heart recipient as well.

 

I was hoping I could see about any help on this one as I have been having some real trouble get a positive ID. It came with a Jumper and Pants both marked LP Pete with it being painted over Lebaron in the jumper only. I wasnt sure if LP Pete could be referencing something other than a name or what. Ive just had some trouble really narrowing it down. Obviously he was in for awhile and must have saw some solid service with his ribbon rack and stripe.

 

Thanks for anything,

 

Alex

 

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He picked that uniform up second hand from the ships Master at Arms hence the DC over the former owners name.

What exactly does the DC stand for? Does this mean “LP Pete” is likely not the name either?

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At the moment this guy is my best guess. Fold3 has a limited record of him on one ship near the end of the war that never saw action, however most of the rest seems to match. The ETO May have been not long enough to get him a ribbon or perhaps just wrong.

 

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If anyone has ancestry, I believe there are a few more files on him I cannot access. He was from Iowa and there was some kind bonus paper on there I know that was his.

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What exactly does the DC stand for? Does this mean LP Pete is likely not the name either?

. DC stands for Discarded Clothing. Meaning, it was abandoned. It was stamped DC over the original owners name. The piece was purchased by another Sailor, at auction (money going to the ships welfare fund), named LP Pete.
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. DC stands for Discarded Clothing. Meaning, it was abandoned. It was stamped DC over the original owners name. The piece was purchased by another Sailor, at auction (money going to the ships welfare fund), named LP Pete.

Oh wow thank you very much! I had no idea. So would all of the ribbons and patches likely belong to this new sailor or the original owner?

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I managed to do some research back when this was originally offered for sale, and I was able to ID the sailor. Ill post the muster rolls tomorrow.

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Oh wow thank you very much! I had no idea. So would all of the ribbons and patches likely belong to this new sailor or the original owner?

. The insignia would belong to the new owner. Anything left from the original owner would be removed. For instance, that single red stripe on the lower left sleeve is a 4 year service stripe, so whoever wore this last served at least 4 years.
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Collector .45

36thIDAlex,

 

I'm glad someone on the forum ended up with this one. I originally picked it up several years ago. The vet was indeed from MN, but being Navy material, I passed it along as its not my focus. Did you get the hat and pants with it?

 

- Henry

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36thIDAlex,

 

I'm glad someone on the forum ended up with this one. I originally picked it up several years ago. The vet was indeed from MN, but being Navy material, I passed it along as its not my focus. Did you get the hat and pants with it?

 

- Henry

Thank you everyone for the help! Unfortunately the hat must have been separated as I only received the jumper and pants. It really is a nice set.

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Thanks to the help of Jguy1986i was able to confirm that this is pretty much guaranteed the uniform of SoM3c Leonard Petersen.

 

After digging through the records of the USS Lindsey DM-32, I found Petersen listed as wounded after an extremely damaging double kamikaze attack on the vessel on April 12, 1944, off of Okinawa. 57 killed, 57 wounded, Petersen among them.

 

I am still working on explaining the Navy Unit Commendation still, as I believe neither the LINDSEY nor his prior ship, the USS Formalhaut AK-22, were given the award.

 

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Excerpt from a written report of the attack. Every story I hear just goes to remind me how truly devastating these kind of attacks were, all that more honor to the vets who lived in constant fear of these things:

 

 

“Her gunners' first targets were three low-flying torpedo planes closing on the ship's starboard bow. These were followed by four Vals that came in over Aguni Shima evading the ship's radar. Almost immediately, the unit split, one going across the ship's bow and the other three astern. As the ship pivoted to starboard to keep her attackers under effective fire, her starboard guns blazed away at one kamikaze as he screamed in at 300 feet above the water. Shells ripped fragments from his fuselage and within seconds, the diving plane was little more than smoking wreckage hurtling toward the ship. At 1450, it crashed and exploded on the starboard side at the base of the bridge superstructure. Shrapnel tore holes in the bridge and pilot house --both wardroom and galley were demolished -- and flames engulfed one 20-mm mount, killing its crew of three. Two members of a nearby gun crew were also killed at their posts and three others were wounded. The forward fire room was in flames.

Within thirty seconds a second Val started its run on the ship. Her 40-mm and 20-mm guns opened up, setting the dive bomber afire and neatly clipping off one of his wings. Forty-five seconds after the first plane struck, the second hit the ship on the port bow between the main deck and the waterline near No. 1 mount. The plane's bomb exploded sending shrapnel into the forward magazine, which exploded ripping some sixty feet off the ship's bow, from the main deck to the keel. No one at battle stations in the forward section of the ship survived. Around her, the sea was a deadly combination of water and burning gasoline. Only the "all back full" ordered by her captain, Commander T.E. Chambers, prevented the pressure of the in-rushing sea from collapsing the fireroom bulkhead and sinking the ship.

Above decks, the ship was engulfed by smoke and flying debris, paper, clothing, and provisions. Tons of water thrown mast high extinguished the fires started by the first hit. Later, linen from the wardroom was found in the rigging and clothes and bedding from the CPO quarters on the No. 1 stack. Along with the No. 2 gun mount, the main deck was now level with the bridge. One of No. 1's five-inch guns, weighing almost five tons, had been thrown completely over No. 2 mount and onto the bridge rail where it hung pointing skyward with a projectile still lodged in the rigging. A training motor from the No. 1 mount was blown aft, landing on the gunner's seat of the starboard 40-mm quad mount. The entire action, from the initial sighting to the second crash, lasted just three minutes. Figuring that the LINDSEY was sinking, the remaining enemy planes left in search of other targets”

 

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LINDSEY received 2 engagement/battle stars on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign ribbon, I don't see a Navy Unit Commendation for it. FOMALHAUT received 5 engagement/battle stars on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign ribbon, and no commendation is listed. It is hard to say why the ribbon is present. 5 other Robert K. Smith-class DM's received Navy Unit Commendations for service off Okinawa, while 3 others received the Presidential Unit Citation for service off Okinawa in early 1945. Uniform and Good Conduct ribbon indicate service in excess of 4 years, and with the lack of a ruptured duck, it is possible (I did not look up in the muster rolls) he was assigned to some other vessel or unit that did rate a Navy Unit Commendation.

 

Good looking uniform.

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Given the damage to the ship, it is surprising they did not receive a commendation. Radar picket duty was extremely dangerous, and any ship that performed that duty had a brave crew.

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LINDSEY received 2 engagement/battle stars on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign ribbon, I don't see a Navy Unit Commendation for it. FOMALHAUT received 5 engagement/battle stars on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign ribbon, and no commendation is listed. It is hard to say why the ribbon is present. 5 other Robert K. Smith-class DM's received Navy Unit Commendations for service off Okinawa, while 3 others received the Presidential Unit Citation for service off Okinawa in early 1945. Uniform and Good Conduct ribbon indicate service in excess of 4 years, and with the lack of a ruptured duck, it is possible (I did not look up in the muster rolls) he was assigned to some other vessel or unit that did rate a Navy Unit Commendation.

 

Good looking uniform.

. In the Navy, Unit Commendations are worn Forever, by the Sailor regardless of transfer. If you were on a unit when it received the award, you wear it for the rest of your time in the Navy
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Right, he may have been transferred to some other ship or station and qualified for the ribbon there. Neither LINDSEY or FOMALHAUT received a commendation.

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Its possible he received a Letter of Commendation and somehow lost in translation he got the Unit Commendation ribbon instead. No way to know until you order his file. I only went so far as to ID it from the LeBaron name, then worked backwards to find an LP Pete___ sonarman on a minesweeper, and then saw Petersen was wounded while on the Lindsey.

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Its possible he received a Letter of Commendation and somehow lost in translation he got the Unit Commendation ribbon instead.

 

That's possible, I have seen that before. It would be worth checking out when he enlisted and when he was discharged, since the uniform lacks a ruptured duck and has 4+ years of service represented in that stripe. Could have been some other unit after leaving the LINDSEY?

 

Would LINDSEY have been a part of a Task Unit or Task Element or Squadron that would have received the N.U.C. ???

 

Not that I saw; I tried looking for just that wondering the same thing. I really don't know why they did not receive a commendation for it; some vessels of the mine divisions received them, and some didn't.

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I really am not sure still. I will probably be requesting his service files through Golden Arrow here soon as I am as interested as you all to see the explanation behind it. I too was looking through all of the task force commendation listings and did not see the LINDSEY although perhaps it is just missing. Just hoping the service files hold the answer. I believe he must have joined around 42 as it shows what seems to be his first transfer from the states to the FOMALHAUT in early 42 (that is also where it details his enlistment). So not really sure where he would have got it. Hopefully the files reveal all.

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Now that it has come up however, I am questioning the American Defense Medal on the uniform. If Petersen had enlisted in 42 that disqualifies him for the medal. Could this uniform belong to someone else?

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Now that it has come up however, I am questioning the American Defense Medal on the uniform. If Petersen had enlisted in 42 that disqualifies him for the medal. Could this uniform belong to someone else?

Or, perhaps they are just a random set of ribbons someone stuck on the jumper during its life.
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