SGT. William J. Reed, KIA Iwo Jima

[Pop45]

This uniform belonged to SGT. William J. Reed. Reed was born on March 19th, 1924, in Fort Edward, New York to Patrick and Delia Reed. Unfortunately, Reed’s mother passed away in 1930, and his father in 1938 leaving Reed and his nine siblings to fend for themselves. Reed was forced to drop out of school in 1940, whereas he worked various odd jobs around his city to support himself and his siblings.  Ultimately, Reed enlisted in the Marine Corps on August 12th, 1942. Following bootcamp, Reed was assigned to G Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines as an Automatic Rifleman. Prior to his shipping out overseas’ Reed was promoted to SGT and was given the role of a Rifle NCO. Reed and his men left for the Pacific on January 13th, 1944, whereas their first engagement was the battle of Roi-Namur. Following the Marines swift victory on Roi, Reed participated in the battle of Saipan and Tinian, the former of which Reed simply referred to as “hell.” On February 19th, 1945, a month before his 21st birthday Reed landed on Iwo Jima with the fifth wave of assault troops. According to witnesses, Reed was killed by mortar fire 20 minutes after landing. Horrifically, Reed’s body was so mutilated that his remains had to be identified by the fingerprints on his remaining right hand. SGT William Joseph Reed was laid to rest in the National Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl. 
Semper FI Marine, you are remembered.

[Big Iron]

A very tough life and cut very short. Orphaned during the depression, makes one wonder what happened to the siblings.

 

Thank you for sharing. How did you come by this uniform? Someone cared enough to keep it all this time.

[Pop45]

Thank you for your interest. If I remember correctly he was adopted by his oldest sister, who signed for him yo join the Marines as well. I believe this uniform was owned originally by someone on the forum, and I purchased it from someone who restored it. Once again, thanks for your interest.