I’ll be heading off to the SOS in a few days where I hope to see friends and fellow Purple Heart enthusiasts. We will all prowl the hall looking for Purple Hearts for our own collections or perhaps one that our colleagues might be interested in acquiring. As we wander around the SOS we all will be evaluating Purple Hearts in light of a set of Rules that we all “know” to be true and inviolable.

 

For instance, if I came across this Purple Heart, I would know it was a WWII-era issued example. I would quickly look up possible recipients and would come up with two possibilities:

Sgt. Warren A. Montgomery of the US Army 78^th Division who was KIA 16 December 1944 in Europe.

Or Pfc. Warren A. Montgomery of the USMC who was wounded in 1941 and who died as a Japanese-held POW in December 1942.

I would know instantly that this was the 78^th Division Army recipient’s Purple Heart because it is an Army-type slot brooch medal, in an Army case with, most importantly, the unmistakable Army-style block hand-engraving. Also, the Army Distinguished Unit Badge would have been a give-away and I would have assumed the Campaign Medals were added to enhance an Army award by making it a Marine award (no offense to members of either service: I am talking collector value only). I would be aware that some late-war USMC/Navy Purple Hearts used “borrowed” Army medals and cases, but even those had Navy or USMC engraving styles, not this Army-style engraving.

 

And in this case, I would have been wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

This Purple Heart was awarded to USMC Pfc. Warren A. Montgomery of Mesa, Arizona. He entered service in August 1939 and was a member of the 4^th Marines, stationed in Shanghai. In November 1941 the 4^th Marines were withdrawn to the Philippines where they were stationed when the war commenced. Pfc. Montgomery was wounded in action when he was serving guard duty aboard a French ship, the Sia Kiang, in Mariveles Harbor on Bataan when a Japanese bombing raid sunk the ship. The 4^th Marines later withdrew to Corregidor where they were captured with the reset of that island’s defenders in May 1942. He probably participated in the Bataan Death March and died 28 December 1942 in the Yodagawa POW Camp in Osaka. He died of dysentery and malnutrition.

 

 

Of course, there must be provenance for any medal, and I think the proof that this medal is for our Marine is pretty substantial.

The medal recently surfaced, directly from the family, about a mile from where this Marine was born and raised here in Mesa, Arizona.

The huge grouping includes photos of Montgomery as a child a seventeen-year-old, and as a Marine.

 

There are many original news clipping pertaining to Montgomery’s service, capture and death.

 

 

 

 

There is an original POW postcard from Montgomery in Osaka.

 

 

 

 

 

The original transmittal letter from the USMC informing the family that Montgomery is entitled to a Purple Heart for his wounds.

 

Letters to and from the Marine and his mother.

 

 

Another letter from the USMC informing the family that Montgomery was awarded the Purple Heart certificate and, interestingly, the Army Distinguished Unit Citation.

 

 

 

 

An original USMC document certifying his death as a POW 28 December 1942 along with the PH certificate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim...you always pull out the "thinkers"...

A letter form Maj. Frank Richardson of the US Army who was the POW Camp doctor, in which he lets mother know the circumstances of her son’s death.

 

 

 

 

This group included many other documents, pictures, and letters. These are just a few to establish that this Purple Heart was awarded to a Marine and to point out the oddity of the engraving style for such an award.

I think one possibility for the engraving oddity is that the 4^th Marines were under Army Command throughout the Defense of the Philippines. Hence the officially-awarded Army Distinguished Unit Citation. Perhaps the Army was responsible for issuing Purple Hearts for all service men and women under their command.

Aside from the collector-interest issues raised with this group, there is a real human element to this group. You can look at the pictures in this post and see the young man growing up, including holding the day he held a cake for his 17^th birthday. And in one of Pfc. Montgomery’s letters home from Shanghai dated 15 September 1941, he complains about not getting any letters and says, quote: Why don’t some of you wright it gets mity Lonesome out hear When every Body gits mail but me.

 

 

Maybe his family forgot about him a bit when he joined up, or maybe they were not the letter- writing types, but the nature of this grouping, the sheer number of letters, article, certificates and documents that have been kept together for 78 years is testimony to the fact that his family never forgot him and that he remained an important part of their lives.

 

Thanks for spending the time to look at this lengthy post and any comments on the engraving style would be of interst to me.

 

 

That is a very interesting group Jim. The one thing I noticed based on the enclosure card is that Purple Heart was probably issued prior to 1946 when the PH certificate was issued.

 

Based on the 1942 letter, I am wondering if the Army issued him that first one while he was MIA/POW, and the Marine Corps issued an additional medal in 1946 after he was dead.

 

At the time that June 1942 letter was sent the Navy and Marine Corps was not issuing purple hearts yet to its service members. Its authority must have come from the Army. I owned a similar USMC group where the Silver star had been awarded by the Army for Corregidor and issued by the army. It was a hand engraved Army silver star.

 

This is one you definitely want to get his file for. It will answer all the questions.

 

Kurt

That is a group Jim anybody would be proud to be a caretaker. All roads do not always lead to explanations, many times, thay are unnecessary. The items speak...

Wow ! You never know ! Great post and remembrance !

Thanks so much Jim not only for posting this poignant group but also walking us through the evidence and your logic trail.

 

Kyle

That is a very interesting group Jim. The one thing I noticed based on the enclosure card is that Purple Heart was probably issued prior to 1946 when the PH certificate was issued.

 

Based on the 1942 letter, I am wondering if the Army issued him that first one while he was MIA/POW, and the Marine Corps issued an additional medal in 1946 after he was dead.

 

At the time that June 1942 letter was sent the Navy and Marine Corps was not issuing purple hearts yet to its service members. Its authority must have come from the Army. I owned a similar USMC group where the Silver star had been awarded by the Army for Corregidor and issued by the army. It was a hand engraved Army silver star.

 

This is one you definitely want to get his file for. It will answer all the questions.

 

Kurt

 

Thanks Kurt.

Geoff at Golden Arrow is working on the file. Based on the sheer volume of paperwork and ephemera that came with the group I would expect a second PH would have been with ther group but as I've learned, Never Say Never.

Jim

That is a very interesting group Jim. The one thing I noticed based on the enclosure card is that Purple Heart was probably issued prior to 1946 when the PH certificate was issued.

 

Based on the 1942 letter, I am wondering if the Army issued him that first one while he was MIA/POW, and the Marine Corps issued an additional medal in 1946 after he was dead.

 

At the time that June 1942 letter was sent the Navy and Marine Corps was not issuing purple hearts yet to its service members. Its authority must have come from the Army. I owned a similar USMC group where the Silver star had been awarded by the Army for Corregidor and issued by the army. It was a hand engraved Army silver star.

 

This is one you definitely want to get his file for. It will answer all the questions.

 

Kurt

 

Nice group indeed. I agree, awarded by the Army.

 

 

Wharf

Geez thanks for posting this Jim! Learned something new.

 

Pete

Yes thanks for posting this unique and early war POW grouping. Indeed, how sad to die in such a miserable deal at such a young age. Thanks for posting and sharing.

 

Kurt

Fascinating. Thanks for the lesson.

Great grouping with a twist!

OUTSTANDING GROUP !! Thankfully has now seen the light of day to remain forever cherished as a Testament to this young Marine's Service & subsequent loss.

 

        Dom P.