My father (on the left, wearing jacket & tie, holding the large envelope), aged 26, was the oldest in this group of Marine Corps volunteers from Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, September 1942, so he was put in charge.
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William G. Zincavage, Fall 1942, after graduating Marine Corps Boot Camp
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Military Police, North Carolina, Fall 1942
He was only 5′ 6″, but he was so tough that they made him an MP.
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Third Marine Division
I Marine Amphibious Corps
First Amphibious Corps, Third Marine Division, Special Troops:
Solomon Islands Consolidation (Guadalcanal), Winter-Spring 1943
New Georgia Group Operation (Vella LaVella, Rendova), Summer 1943
“The Special Troops drew the first blood.” — Third Divisional History.
“We never saw them but they were running away.” — William G. Zincavage
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III Marine Amphibious Corps
Third Amphibious Corps, Third Marine Division, Special Troops:
Marianas Operation (Guam), Summer 1944
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V Marine Amphibious Corps
Fifth Amphibious Corps, Third Marine Division, Special Troops:
Iwo Jima Operation, February-March 1945
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Navy Unit Commendation (Iwo Jima)
Good Conduct Medal
North American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Four Bronze Stars
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While recovering from malaria after the Battle of Iwo Jima, he looked 70 years old.
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But he was back to normal in December of 1945, when this photo was taken shortly before he received his discharge.
gbear
Thanks for sharing.
Lee
Thank you. And thank you to your father.
I know very little about my father’s world war II experience. He was in the Merchant Marine and since all his stories were about Cuba and Brazil, I had assumed he spent the entire time sailing around the Caribbean. I found out after he does that it was only at the end of the war when he was transferred to the Caribbean. That most of time, he sailed North Atlantic routes. Some 3,500 merchant vessels were stuck by the Germans and some 36,000 merchant seamen killed during the Battle of the Atlantic. Those numbers do not include and Navy vessels or name Navy personnel.
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