IWO JIMA. WIA RIFLEMAN. WW2 USMC 25th MARINES. P44 HBT UNIS CAMO FROGSKIN JACKET for Sale

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IWO JIMA. WIA RIFLEMAN. WW2 USMC 25th MARINES. P44 HBT UNIS CAMO FROGSKIN JACKET For Sale

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IWO JIMA. WIA RIFLEMAN. WW2 USMC 25th MARINES. P44 HBT UNIS CAMO FROGSKIN JACKET:
$1995.00

sale Item:

► OriginalUSMCRiflemanEdward Andrew Thomas'sWWII USMC P44ReversibleUNIS Marked Camouflage Jacket. He was in the3rd Battalion,25th Marines (3/25), 4th Marine Division.► UNIS Marking "531" (25th Marines, 3rd Battalion, Headquarters) on both GreenCamouflageand BrownCamouflage sides along with "E. A. Thomas".

♠Edward was born on Christmas Day, December 25, 1925, in Lynn, Massachusetts.

♠Edward registered for the draft at Local Board No. 89 in Essex County in Lynn, Massachusetts on December 28, 1943. On March 20, 1944, a few months after his 18th birthday, he entered the United States Marine Corps as a Private.

♠In preparation for Iwo Jima, Edward and the 25th Marines were moved to Camp Maui in the Hawaiian Islands of Maui. At Camp Maui, the towering volcano, Haleakala, looked down on them. These Marines lived for the moment. Savoring the long hours of training each day made them realize what must come tomorrow.

♠On January 6, 1945, the 25th Marines sailed to Maalaea Bay, Maui, to take part in a practice amphibious landing. Then, on January 9, they traveled to Pearl Harbor to spend precious liberty hours in Honolulu. From January 13-18, the 25th Marines were back at Maalaea Bay, where a full-gear rehearsal of the coming invasion took place.

♠Iwo Jima was an ugly pork chop-shaped island fuming with hard-to-breath sulfur-thick air covered by dark volcanic ash. It has been compared to the surface of the moon, a devil's playground. and even hell itself. The island is anchored at the narrow southern tip by Mt. Suribachi, a 550-foot-high extinct volcano.

♠ D-Day on Iwo Jima February 19, 1945. After an early breakfast of steak and eggs, Edward and the 25th Marines, led by Lieutenant Colonel Chambers, retrieved their weapons and packs below deck and reported to their landing stations. By 0830, their first assault waves churned toward the beach 4,000 yards away, and each following wave was separated by about 250-300 yards.

♠Edward landed on Blue Beach 1, infringing slightly onto Blue Beach 2 shortly after 0900. The Japanese responded immediately to the landing with intense mortar and machine gun fire, exploding violently across the volcanic sand. Unseen enemy defenders in cleverly camouflaged positions and pillboxes swept the beach with deadly fire, inflicting destructive carnage on these brave Marines who charged with heroic courage.

♠Edward and the 3rd Battalion scaled the cliffs leading to the Quarry. The fire hitting the 25th Marines was the heaviest faced by the entire landing force. Gore and the horrific sights, sounds, and smells of dismemberment and death were everywhere.

♠Moving into the Quarry, the 3rd Battalion was hit by a murderous flanking fire, causing severe losses. Before nightfall, the 3rd Battalion was in a disorganized state. Of the 900 Marines that landed that morning, only 150, including Edward, remained. Twenty-two of the Battalion's officers had been killed or wounded. The total casualty count for the Battalion was 750 dead or wounded.

♠Edward's Battalion was now positioned along a ridgeline separated by a shallow valley leading to another distant ridgeline named Charlie-Dog, some 300 yards to the front. Charlie-Dog was a part of the Japanese main line of resistance. At 0800, the 3/25 attacked along with supporting naval gunfire.

♠It was during this day's firefights that Edward took a bullet in his left leg, breaking his bone and exposing it through the skin to the wet, volcanic ash. It was a compound fracture, the most brutally painful of broken bones. To make matters worse, the rain, cold, and evening darkness made the evacuation stations almost inoperable. If he was to live, Edward would have to survive a long night of bleeding and helpless suffering.

§This is an authentic item and not a replica. Please refer to the pictures of this antique for visual details and to determine its condition.

§All research shown in this sale is printed on high-quality photography paper encased in a binder of ultra-clear page sleeves for your convenience. It will also be included as a digital PDF on a Flash Drive. This research is based on information from documented sources.

§We ship Internationally.