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2 Purple hearts to a WW2 Marine


Raidercollector
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Raidercollector

I thought I would share this kind of rare group I have from a marine Pvt that was wounded on Roi Namur in the marshall Islands,Put on the USS Solace Hospital ship,And went to pearl, And latter was KIA on Saipan.His name is Otto henry Becker. This is the only group I have seen and own to a 2 purple heart marine. The first heart has Marshall Islands campaign Feb 1. 1944. Never seen a engraving like this one. Second is the more common one seen on split brooch with gold star. I also have the transmital to his purple heart. This group came from the estate of the Family.A very sad group from minnesota.

post-421-1187559484.jpg

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Nick...That sure is a nice and interesting group. The Posthumous PH with Gold Star is of course engraved in the official format of the time. The OTHER heart is most interesting. There is no official engraving like this that I am aware of.....but it ....just .....kinda.....looks......official. As an evacuated casualty from Roi-Namur you would expect that he would have been presented with an un-named PH in hospital. So where did the engraving get done? It pose some intersting questions and maybe the PH collectors have seen this type of engraving before. When you get his Service Record you might learn something.

Best..........Bob

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Kurt Barickman

Hi, interesting group, please pm me offline about which town this Minnesotan came from as I can perhaps help you with the research.

 

 

Kurt Barickman

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Now that's a cool group! I have no problem with the first PH with the private engraving. I have a similar one to a paramarine that was wounded at Bougainville and his PH is similar.

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Excellent grouping that is especially interesting to me because Sanborn, MN is only about 45 min. drive from me.

 

I have a couple friends who live there, and I regularly drive thru it when I visit the local antique stores (looking for military stuff).

 

Hits pretty close to home!

 

John

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  • 1 year later...
Raidercollector
Hi, interesting group, please pm me offline about which town this Minnesotan came from as I can perhaps help you with the research.

Kurt Barickman

 

 

 

Hey Kurt B

 

Did you ever try to fine anything out on Becker? think.gif

 

Nick

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I thought I would share this kind of rare group I have from a marine Pvt that was wounded on Roi Namur in the marshall Islands,Put on the USS Solace Hospital ship,And went to pearl, And latter was KIA on Saipan.His name is Otto henry Becker. This is the only group I have seen and own to a 2 purple heart marine. The first heart has Marshall Islands campaign Feb 1. 1944. Never seen a engraving like this one. Second is the more common one seen on split brooch with gold star. I also have the transmital to his purple heart. This group came from the estate of the Family.A very sad group from minnesota.

A great group expressing a tragic fate; to beat the odds once, recover and go back to line only to be fatally hit. My eyes are not what they should be, but I am pretty sure that unusual engraving on the first medal is privately done, I believe the tip off is that he is listed as USMC, while the second award shows he was USMCR. The official Marine Corps engravers would not have made that error. The Marine Corps stopped accepting regular enlistments early on in the war, most WWII Marines were USMCR's on active duty for the duration and six.

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Raidercollector
A great group expressing a tragic fate; to beat the odds once, recover and go back to line only to be fatally hit. My eyes are not what they should be, but I am pretty sure that unusual engraving on the first medal is privately done, I believe the tip off is that he is listed as USMC, while the second award shows he was USMCR. The official Marine Corps engravers would not have made that error. The Marine Corps stopped accepting regular enlistments early on in the war, most WWII Marines were USMCR's on active duty for the duration and six.

 

 

One thing that I do know, Both purple hearts came from the family, With one transmittal too the second heart. The first one,May be the Family had it done, Or Becker him self had it done over seas.?? Its a Mystery to me. I like the group totally. Even if one is Privately engraved,I don,t mined at all. These are so hard to fine with 2 hearts, especially to a marine.

 

Nick

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He came from a large family

 

1930 United States Federal Census

about Otto H Becker

Name: Otto H Becker

Home in 1930: Sanborn, Redwood, Minnesota

Age: 7

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1923

Relation to Head of House: Son

Father's Name: Henry

Mother's Name: Marla

 

Household Members:

Name Age

Henry Becker 53

Marla Becker 45

Walter C Becker 14

Kenuet J Becker 12

Martha A Becker 11

Marie M Becker 9

Otto H Becker 7

Wilbert L Becker 6

Margaret L Becker 5

 

 

His father and mother were both born in Germany. His father was a laborer on a dragline (must be mining in that area).

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Nick...That sure is a nice and interesting group. The Posthumous PH with Gold Star is of course engraved in the official format of the time. The OTHER heart is most interesting. There is no official engraving like this that I am aware of.....but it ....just .....kinda.....looks......official. As an evacuated casualty from Roi-Namur you would expect that he would have been presented with an un-named PH in hospital. So where did the engraving get done? It pose some intersting questions and maybe the PH collectors have seen this type of engraving before. When you get his Service Record you might learn something.

Best..........Bob

 

Bob,

 

I have a couple of "unofficial" engraved Army hearts from guys who were wounded but not KIA. Both engravings are almost official looking. One of them I got directly from the vet, he was a good friend of my fathers. He was hit badly in Germany. They presented him with the engraved heart in the hospital in England, it his his name, the place where he was wounded, and the date on the back of the heart. So, maybe, this was done periodically at either hospitals, or maybe in the case of this Marine on the hospital ship itself. Afterall, they did have the equipment and skill sets on board to do something like that. Just a theory on my part.

 

John

 

I'll post my "unofficial" hearts when I get home, right now, I'm TDY at Ft. Bragg.

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Its pretty flat and farming in and around Sanborn. think.gif

 

Kurt Barickman

 

Having roots in the strip mining country of Pennsylvania I always think of mining when I see the word "dragline" but I forget they were also used in road construction and other civil engineering projects.

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  • 7 years later...
Raidercollector

Adversity of Saipan ,BTT Its been 7 years since this was brought back up. I,m sure some of you that have not seen this group.

Enjoy, Nick

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Raidercollector

Very emotional group, Nick. What was his Company/Regiment?

 

~VFG

 

Dean

He was in Company B 1st Bn, 24th Marines, 4th Division

 

 

Nick

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ViewfinderGyrene

 

Very emotional group, Nick. What was his Company/Regiment?

 

~VFG

 

Dean

He was in Company B 1st Bn, 24th Marines, 4th Division

 

 

Nick

 

 

Rest in Peace, Semper Fi, God's Speed young Marine.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 years later...

Otto Becker was my great Uncle through his older sister Marie.  I have several photos and a yearbook for his unit prior to being shipped off overseas.  I've attached a photo of his gravesite in Saipan with two of his friends paying their respects before sending the photo back to his family.  

 

I'm glad his collection is being taken care of so well.

 

Best, 

Scott

Becker_Otto_SaipanGravesite.jpg

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