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Iwo jima kia purple heart

Article about: Here is a grouping that I was able to obtain recently after I was contacted back in the early days of the COVID pandemic.. I was very honored and humbled to be able to add this Purple Heart

  1. #1

    Default Iwo jima kia purple heart

    Here is a grouping that I was able to obtain recently after I was contacted back in the early days of the COVID pandemic..

    I was very honored and humbled to be able to add this Purple Heart to my collection. I never really thought that I would be in possession of an Iwo Jima Purple Heart, but due to the circumstances of how I came into possession of this medal, I was helping someone in need. Although not directly in line with what I collect, I do have a Pearl Harbor Purple Heart for a Sailor wounded on the Pennsylvania on December 7, 1941 as well as an Army Silver Star for a B-17 crewmember from the 431st Bombardment Squadron awarded for actions at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. This pretty much rounds out my Pacific Theater medals with some of the most iconic Battles from World War Two.

    I would like to now present to you the story of PFC Raymond Tomaszewski.

    (NOTE) The research I have conducted is only preliminary since NARA has been shut down due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. I do plan on requesting records and all other information that I can once everything returns to some normalcy.

    Raymond Tomaszewski was born on October 10, 1922 in Kinlock, Pennsylvania. He registered for the draft on June 30, 1942 in Westmoreland County, New Kensington, Pennsylvania. His draft card indicated that he was 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighed 175 pounds, had a dark complexion and brown hair and brown eyes. He was rejected at his first induction examination but later enlisted in the Marine Corps. He left for Marine service on October 12, 1943. He received training at Parris Island, North Carolina, Quantico, Virginia and in California. Records indicate that in January 1944 he was a PFC and his Marine Corps specialty number was 521 (BASIC) indicating that he lacked sufficient training or military experience at the time to warrant assignment of another specialty number. The roster also indicates he was assigned to Msm (Midshipman) C Barracks as part of the Reserves Officers Class, Marine Corps Schools at Quantico Marine Base, Quantico Virginia. In April 1944 records indicate he was dropped from rolls from the ROC (Reserve Officers Class) at Quantico, Virginia and was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division, FMF (Fleet Marine Force) at Camp Joseph H. Pendleton, at Oceanside, California. Records also indicate that he had not yet been awarded a specialty number. In January 1945 records, Tomaszewski, still a PFC and still part of the 26th Marines and his specialty number was now 746 E which was an automatic rifleman assigned to E. Company. PFC Tomaszewski was killed in action on D+12, March 3, 1945 on Iwo Jima.
    The following is a brief account of the 2nd Battalion 26th Marines, their initial landing on Iwo Jima on D-Day and the actions that E Company were in on the day that Tomaszewski was killed.

    BLT 2/26 (Battalion Landing Team)

    BLT 2/26 landed on Beach Red 2 at about 1630 hours on D-Day, February 19, 1945. BLT 2/26 landed with 37 officers and 917 enlisted men. Of these Marines who initially landed, 26 officers and 728 enlisted men were battle casualties by the end of the campaign. Until the early morning of February 22, 1945, the battalion occupied positions on the West side of the Island in the rear of the front lines providing depth and security. From February 22 until February 27, the battalion attacked in the center of the Divisions zone of action. Company E came off the line on February 27th under the command of the First Sergeant, (1stSgt. Jack V. Canzonieri) all officers having become casualties.

    On March 3, 1945, D+12, the battalion was committed to action and participated in some of the hottest fighting and on this day mounted it’s most successful, and bloodiest, attack of the battle, finally seizing Hill 362B. Supported by tanks the 26th Marines attacked in the right center of the Division line. E Company using flamethrowers, bazookas and demolitions blasted through a series of caves and pillboxes to seize and hold Hill 362B. The day long struggle cost 500 Marine casualties (one of them was PFC Raymond F. Tomaszewski, BAR gunner, Killed in Action) and the Commanders of Company D (Lt Charles Horvath & Lt. John McCaffrey) and Company E (Capt. Harold F. Gardner) were changed because of casualties. By the end of March 3, that day produced 5 Medals of Honor. In the first 25 days of the operation the battalion spent seventeen days and nights in the front lines.

    In addition to the cased Purple Heart, I received a newspaper article and picture of Raymond, a 5th Marine Division patch, an official letter from the Marine Corps which states the Purple Heart was being engraved and would be forwarded to the family two months after the date of the letter (May 16, 1945) an Asiatic Pacific Campaign medal (which I assume was requested by the family after the war).. Unfortunately the PH certificate was not with this grouping but I am pleased with what I was able to obtain...

    This is a Type 1 US Mint Navy Purple Heart, split brooch version. This came in a single line "Purple Heart" wood case. I reached out to David A. Schwind author of “Sacrifice Remembered, Posthumous Awards of the Purple Heart in the Second World War” for some vetting and this is what he had told me about the case.

    “The box is technically wrong for it, being an Army box. However, in May 1945, the Army sent 60,000 Purple Hearts with their boxes to the Navy and who knows...this one could have been swapped out at the time”.

    There are so many different scenarios that could have played out as to why an Army case was used for a Navy Heart as Dave indicated above… As for me, the medal and case will remain just as I received them..

    As a sidebar to this grouping, I was doing further research and found out that one of the platoon commanders of E Company during the Battle for Iwo Jima was Second Lieutenant William E. Barber. Barber was assigned as a platoon commander with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division, at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, he embarked for the Pacific area and later took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima. After being wounded twice, he was evacuated and later returned to his unit, serving as Company Commander during the last two weeks of the operation. Shortly after, he was promoted to first lieutenant and again commanded the company during the initial occupation of Japan. He was awarded the Silver Star and two Purple Hearts for his actions on Iwo Jima in which "he disregarded his own wounds and directed enemy fire to rescue two wounded Marines from enemy territory”.

    I am hoping that further research may reveal that Barber may have been Tomaszewski’s Platoon Commander.

    Barber would later command F Company 2nd Battalion 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division in Korea at the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. For his actions in that battle, Barber would receive the Medal of Honor. I am also the proud caretaker of two groupings that belonged to 2 Marines who were with Barber in F Company 2/7. Corporal Robert L. Gaines and PFC Carl F. Radwanski.

    I hope you all enjoy..

    Best regards and Blessings, stay safe

    Smitty
    Click to enlarge the picture Click to enlarge the picture Iwo jima kia purple heart   Iwo jima kia purple heart  

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  2. #2

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    You were very lucky to be able to be there to obtain this awesome group. Thank you for posting.

  3. #3

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    Thank you BC..

    I am humbled to be the temporary caretaker of this coveted decoration..

    Smitty

  4. #4

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    A son of the Keystone state and only overseas 6 months, but what a war he must have had. One hero from the many who ran across that black sand in February 1945 and into the annals of history.

  5. #5
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    Quite the PH.
    I like the research you have done on it.
    Glad to see it will now remain in a good home.

    RIP PFC Raymond Tomaszewski.


    Semper Fi
    Phil

  6. #6
    MAP
    MAP is offline
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    Fantastic PH and research Smitty. Nice to see these new photos.

    It's in great hands!

    M
    "Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated

    My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them

    "Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)

  7. #7

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    Very nice PH and history. I am glad you saved it.
    John

  8. #8

    Default

    Very nice group especially with the history to support it.

    I have always found the PH a very striking and iconic award. I only have one as a representative piece in the small US section of my collection. I add it here just for comparison which I always think is better than a separate thread when someone is researching old threads for a particular item. I hope that is okay given that this thread relates to a group.

    I must admit I have no clue how to date it and have a suspicion that maybe my set did not originate together.

    The medal is not engraved but does that mean that it was not issued or that the casualty survived?

    Iwo jima kia purple heartIwo jima kia purple heartIwo jima kia purple heart

    Regards

    Mark
    "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

  9. #9
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    you are one lucky guy.

  10. #10
    MAP
    MAP is offline
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    Mark

    I'm on my cell but from what I can see, yours looks correct. Not sure about the ribbon bar

    Don't know the protocol on engraving them. I have one direct from an estate that is not engraved
    "Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated

    My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them

    "Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)

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