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Western USMC Parachutist George Patsko Grouping


mikedon
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Bill Walters asked me to post this amazing grouping he recently acquired. I have never even seen one of those knives in person!






Western USMC Parachutist George Patsko Grouping 1-25-19


Grouping from a World War II USMC Parachutist. The Paramarines were an Airborne unit of the US Marine Corps which were formed in 1940 and disbanded in 1944. This grouping is named to PFC. George Patsko and includes his US Marine Corps Parachute School certificate, dated 4 May, 1943. Next is a photo of his parachute school class, a group of Marines wearing their jump wings, a jump platform is visible in the background. The photo was taken at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The lot also includes his dog tag with a tetanus date of September 1942, listing his serial number #433037. In 1944, when the Paramarine units were disbanded, many of the parachutist qualified Marines were transferred to fighting units within the 5th and 6th Marine Divisions. Newly promoted Corporal Patsko was sent to the 5th Marine Division and went to Iwo Jima with the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, where he was awarded the Bronze Star medal for heroic achievement on February 26, 1945. He was wounded in action on March 16, 1945. Included in this grouping are his full-color temporary citation signed by Maj. Gen. Thomas E. Bourke Commanding general, his Purple Heart order signed by General Holland M. Smith and his original discharge papers dated October 25, 1945. The discharge lists his qualifications as a "Rifle Sharpshooter" and "Parachutist” and also confirms his service on Iwo Jima from 19 February to 17 March 1945 as well as his wounding on Iwo Jima on 16 March, 1945. In addition to the paperwork, his medals are present. There is a slot brooch Bronze Star medal with ribbon bar and "ruptured duck" discharge pin, as well as a Navy / Marine Corps style (squared case full wrap brooch) Purple Heart medal with wide-style ribbon bar and lapel pin. Last but by no means least is Patsko's original Western No. 31 Parachutist's Knife. These were issued to paramarines and marked near the ricasso "USMC". This one retains its original sheath. The Western No. 31 Parachutist knife is one of the rarest fighting knives of World War II. Near Mint.

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Jumpin Jack

What an outstanding grouping. For any airborne collector, this is a real prize. When you consider that there were only 3,500 Marine Paratroopers among the more than 100,000

Army troopers, any grouping of this magnitude, especially with the Western knife, is extremely rare! Thank you Bill for sharing. Jack

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Brian Dentino

Wow, what a great grouping! The knife alone is a beauty, but the paperwork and medals that you have make this a rare and historic group! Thanks for sharing this gem with us. I love that 5th MarDiv Bronze Star citation. Don't see originals in that shape all that often either.

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Thanks for your compliments. Yes, both medals are named to Patsko.

Privately engraved, I assume?

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What an outstanding grouping. For any airborne collector, this is a real prize. When you consider that there were only 3,500 Marine Paratroopers among the more than 100,000

Army troopers, any grouping of this magnitude, especially with the Western knife, is extremely rare! Thank you Bill for sharing. Jack

Those 3,500 Marine Paratrooper's never made any combat jumps, which is why they were disbanded so quickly. As for the US Army Paratrooper's of the 82nd, and 101st, their combat jumps were legendary and changed the course of the war. Marines have always excelled by arriving to the fight by boat, leave the jumping to US Army Paratroopers. Airborne , All the Way!
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More about the 3,000 Paramarines, interesting.

 

"However, the need for and cost of a parachute corps in the Marines was questioned, as were other specialized elite units, such as the Marine Raiders. The Marine Corps also lacked the transport aircraft required for a massed parachute drop. On 30 December 1943, Marine Commandant Thomas Holcomb ordered the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment to be disbanded, and along with the Marine Raider units, it officially ceased to exist on 29 February 1944.

 

Apart from a small group including Peter Julien Ortiz who were parachuted into France as part of an Office of Strategic Services team to support the French Resistance, the Paramarines never dropped by parachute into combat, but were utilized during beach raids in the Pacific campaign, including at Guadalcanal. Paramarines at San Diego were transferred to the 5th Marine Division which landed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945. Former Paramarines, Cpl. Harlon H. Block and Pfc. Ira H. Hayes, assisted in the raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi on 23 February 1945, depicted in Joe Rosenthal's iconic photograph. A third former Paramarine, Sgt. Henry O. "Hank" Hansen, had participated in the first American flag-raising earlier that day. Four of the 82 Marine Medal of Honor recipients in World War II were former Paramarines who were awarded the medal for their heroic actions on Iwo Jima."

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramarines

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Those 3,500 Marine Paratrooper's never made any combat jumps, which is why they were disbanded so quickly. As for the US Army Paratrooper's of the 82nd, and 101st, their combat jumps were legendary and changed the course of the war. Marines have always excelled by arriving to the fight by boat, leave the jumping to US Army Paratroopers. Airborne , All the Way!

As long as they remember whose doctrine was used at Normandy..........

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As long as they remember whose doctrine was used at Normandy..........

...the US Army had started Jump school and making jumps in August 1940....the Marines, a bit later, November 1940....

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...the US Army had started Jump school and making jumps in August 1940....the Marines, a bit later, November 1940....

I refer to amphibious doctrine

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Awesome grouping thank you for sharing. I was surprised not to see the “V” device attached to the Bronze Star. I thought only the Army issued Bronze Star medals without this device.

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