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04-10-11, 11:01 PM #16
Hashmark is for more than 4 years of service not 3. It is not impossible but very unlikely to achieve the rank of buck sergeant and not have a hash mark. WWII Victory medal.
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04-10-11, 11:13 PM #17
I once worked with a retired Marine GySgt who enlisted in 1940 and was at the Philly Navy Yard when Pearl Harbor happened. He said a few weeks later, everyone was mustered and volunteers were requested for a "special assignment." He figured it was an early crack at the Japs, so he volunteered.
He spent the next three-years in Puerto Rico guarding ammo dumps. Then he was detailed to be a DI at Parris Island. He said he was probably the only DI there with no Pacific combat experience. He was a hashmarked Sgt when WWII ended and no combat time at all.
He did admit that the Corps made up for their neglect during the Korean War when he was with F/2/7 at Inchon through Chosen. Yes, that Fox/2/7, and he wasn't posing. I have since verified he was the Company Gunny as he claimed to be. Got a Silver Star and a couple of Hearts.
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04-10-11, 11:22 PM #18
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04-11-11, 03:41 PM #19
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04-11-11, 03:46 PM #20
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04-11-11, 03:56 PM #21
To Be Honest Sir I Dont Know Much Of The Preand Ww2 Ranks It Looks Like A Cpl But Did Some One Mention Buck Sgt?
Anyway Fair Winds And Semper Fi Sir
Stephen Doc Hansen Hm3 Fmf
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04-11-11, 04:04 PM #22
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04-11-11, 04:26 PM #23
This Marine has two chevrons which in those days was a Corporal (E-3). There was no LCpl rank at that time. They did have Technical Sgts back then.
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04-11-11, 04:56 PM #24
Thanks guys for all the comments on my dad's picture. Here's what I know about his service. I wish I had paid more attention to what he said while he was alive. He enlisted in August, 1941. He was in California, maybe still in basic training when the war began. They strung barbed wire on the beaches the day after Pearl Harbor. He did rise through the ranks rapidly because it was wartime, he could type, and because certain adminstrative jobs he was assigned to required a certain rank. He never saw a day of combat. Went to New Caledonia and then the rest of the war in Hawaii where he met my mother who was a WAC.
One other thing I remember him saying... his rifle training was with a 1903 Springfield.
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04-12-11, 05:40 PM #25
The 'ladder' badge was for all sorts of qualifications, pistol, flamethrower, grenade. Looks like he got them all, which was actually pretty common. It wasn't considered an 'expert' qualification badge. The longer one is, as has been stated, a rifle qualification badge, likely 'sharpshooter'.
From what I can see of the ribbon, I'd also guess a Good Conduct Medal, not uncommon during WWII at all to be a Cpl with one and no hashmark quite yet.
If you know your dad's dates of service, we could probably pin this down some more.
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04-14-11, 10:38 AM #26
I'm not sure if the Corps did like the Army during that time period, but I guess it's possible that personnel filling certain billets were given temporary rank that the billet called for, but if they left the billet, they reverted to their "permanent" rank. At that time, in the Army, it was possible to be a PFC (permanent), but wear 1st Sgt chevrons because you were filling the billet of a 1st Sgt. Kind of like the Corps' practice of using LDO's to fill certain billets where it's difficult to get an officer to volunteer for. Gitmo used to be one of the places where the CO would often be a Gunny or MSgt holding the rank of Major as an LDO.
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04-14-11, 03:17 PM #27
I've seen that temporary rank stuff , but not at the low enlisted ranks where you were always senior ( whatever ) and thus incharged , regardless of your peon rank !
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04-14-11, 03:49 PM #28
The badge on the left is definitely a rifle sharpshooter qualification badge. The badge on the is the Marine Corps Basic Qualification Badge that was worn during the era. Additional information is at: http://www.angelfire.com/md2/patches...arksmansh.html
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04-18-11, 08:48 PM #29
Regarding the 'temporary rank". I'm sure my father had a temporary rank. He was, believe it or not, a sergeant major at the end of the war. But his "real" rank was a lower rank sergeant of some sort.
Again, thank you for contributing to the discussion of the picture. My two brothers are also enjoying reading the comments.
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04-18-11, 09:02 PM #30
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Ghost Of Iwo Jima
04-04-24, 11:35 PM in Open Squad Bay