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Preserving a China Marines Memory


Dirk
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Recently, I was contacted by a family who wanted to pass on their father's legacy for research purposes. Military museum were tried, but they showed no interest, so here the legacy was sent to be studied and kept together. The Marine entered in 1936, was sent to Cavite in the summer of 37, only to be turned north and sent to the banks of Shanghai's Soochow Creek for duty. After the fighting ended, he was retained and along with his brother who was also sent during the battle spending another year and a half before returning stateside. He got out only to come back in during WW2 followed by a commission and service into the early 1960's. The group includes his medals minus the GCM. To include numbered China Service medal, and pristine engraved Type V Soochow Creek medal, ribbons, very clean leather dragon album, a Walla, his cruise log and Neptune Cert and a interesting Peiping Privates Club "Pilots License", a Pan Am clipper mailed letter and a great letter written while on the Soochow describing the fighting....

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Photos taken by a commercial photographer. The photo on the Creek is unusual in that it was taken by a commercial studio vice a Marine or Marine Corps photographer

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Nice shots of the Cavite Det arriving in Shanghai. The Walla Walla he kept was the one that recorded the start of the fighting in 1937, and a copy of the Guam Recorder, Guam's version of the Walla Walla

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Dirk,

 

THis is an OUTSTANDING grouping and I am glad to see that the family realized that you would honor this brave marine's memory. What an amazing group! While the medals are nice, and rare in their own right, the paper and photos is what really fleshes the grouping out.

 

Congratulations and thank you for sharing.

 

Allan

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Allan thank you! They put aside monetary, and instead concentrated on preservation knowing it will be used for research, in books (hopefully) and shown. I am most grateful they allowed me to preserve his honor.

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This Type V's condition is similar to one in the BobG's collection. I wish I knew why the Marine chose this style over the Honey Cart version.

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Wonderful grouping, Dirk. Couldn't be in better hands - except mine of course! LOL Congrats! Semper Fi - Bob

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Phenomenal group...always great to see an attributed Soochow, but I have to concur with Allan, the paper really makes this one...looks like lots of good material there for study

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Brig/D thank you both! Lots of great material to study here! M just starting to go thru the album and confirmed with his family he had a camera at that time.

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Just absolutely spectacular!!!!! An id'd Soochow medal is definitely on the list. The photos in this one make this group just spectacular. Congrats on this fantastic find.

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Still regret trading/selling all the Soochows I ever acquired. I had a hot streak and picked up 3 or 4 in a matter of months, didn't realize how lucky that streak was until I traded them. Can't keep it all, but in all the stuff I parted with during my focusing purge, that's the only item I truly regret

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So here's a twin set of the USMC Soochow & China Service medal. My Marine was on his 2nd tour in China having arrived on Sept 19, 1937 with F/2/6. From his SRB it appears that his platoon leader was 2/Lt David E. Shoup, future Medal of Honor recipient at Tarawa and later Commandant. He was on the Defense of the International Settlement from 09/20/1937 unti 02/17/1938 the day he left Shanghai. He was awarded China Service Medal #121 which is shown.

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The Soo Chow also came in a cardboard box and my Marine's has remarkably survived:IMG_20190409_0004.jpgIMG_20190409_0006.jpg

 

His Soo Chow is inscribed with his last name - "Kupfernagel" and it also appears on the bottom of the box.

 

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He was awarded USMC GCM No. 83309 - N0v 5, 1927 - It's whereabouts are unknown and believed to be in collector's hands. Any info about it would be gratefully appreciated. Semper Fi! Bobgee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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