MWalsh Posted May 2, 2009 Share #1 Posted May 2, 2009 A couple months ago I bought a KIA named Purple Heart from another member of the Forum after I saw it listed in the FOR SALE section. The medal was / is officially hand engraved to EDWARD A. HASINSKI. The reason I bought it / the appeal of it to me was that he was a military police GI - a KIA medal from an MP is just impossibe to find! I did the research on him and was able to get his exact unit and the basic details of his death. I thought I'd share them. Private Hasinski was assigned to the 794th Military Police Battalion. The 794th MP's had a unique mission during WW2 - they were train riders. Their duty was to stop the looting and theft which was becoming a big problem on U.S. military trains assigned to and operated by Railway Operating Battalions. Pvt. Hasinski, who was from Ohio, was killed when the transport ship he was on, the S.S. Largs Bay, struck a mine while in the harbor outside the Port of Naples, Italy, at about 0200 hours on January 2nd, 1944. His casualty file notes that he had no visible injuries when his body was recovered several days later. I suspect he was either drowned in the compartment he was in, he died in a fall caused by the mine explosion, or by the concussion caused by the mine explosion. Speculation, but I think reasonable. I do not know what he did in the Army prior to being killed, I suspect he entered the Army, got trained, went overseas, and that he was killed before he ever actually set foot on a foreign shore. He is buried in Ohio now. Research on the SS Largs Bay has been difficult, due probably to it not being a US military ship, but rather, I think, a contracted civilian merchant ship hauling US troops and equipment. It was actually a British owned ship as best as I can tell. I haven't been able to determine where on the ship the mine was struck, how many GI's or crew were killed, etc. MW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circle82 Posted October 6, 2015 Share #2 Posted October 6, 2015 Private Edward A. Hasisnki was one of the Military Police men killed on board of the USS Largs Bay in Naples harbor. He was a member of B Company. All were buried in the temporary American NAPLES Cemetery where he was buried in grave C-3-31. After the war his remains were repatriated on requested of the next of kin. Private Hasinski was buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio Jan Bos Nijmegen, Holland [email protected] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted October 8, 2015 Share #3 Posted October 8, 2015 Nice one there Mike. Any further research planned or do you think you've got as far as you can? Either way nice find and good luck with it! Cheers. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWalsh Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share #4 Posted October 8, 2015 That was a necro-thread brought back from the dead, from 2009! The post after mine was from a couple days ago. I sold the medal here on the Forum of memory serves me right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vernonshattuck Posted October 8, 2015 Share #5 Posted October 8, 2015 Very nice heart Mike. Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted October 9, 2015 Share #6 Posted October 9, 2015 That was a necro-thread brought back from the dead, from 2009! The post after mine was from a couple days ago. I sold the medal here on the Forum of memory serves me right. Whoops just seen the date! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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