Tag Archives: Guam

Finest Hour

Private First Class Frank P. Witek, USMCR (August 3, 1944)

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Frank Peter Witek was born on December 10, 1921 in Derby, Connecticut. He moved as a child with his family to Chicago, Illinois, and it was from there that he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve on January 20, 1942.

After training, Witek was assigned to the active Marine Corps as an automatic rifleman armed with an M1918 BAR with the 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment as a component of the 3rd Marine Division. He fought with 1/9 on Bougainville, and then landed with them on Guam on July 21, 1944.

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Finest Hour

Captain Louis H. Wilson, Jr., USMC (July 25-26, 1944)

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Louis Hugh Wilson, Jr. was born in Brandon, Mississippi on February 11, 1920. He graduated from Millsaps College (Jackson, MS) with the class of 1941 and immediately enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

Wilson was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in November of 1941, and at some point in his early service his commission became with the regular Marine Corps. After his initial officer training, he was assigned to the 9th Marine Regiment at San Diego which was being formed between 1942 and 1943 for combat in the Pacific as part of the 3rd Marine Division.

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Finest Hour

Private First Class Leonard F. Mason, USMC (July 22, 1944)

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Leonard Foster Mason was born on February 22, 1920 in Middlesboro, Kentucky. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in April of 1943, and became a rifleman with the 3rd Marine Division‘s 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. Mason landed with 2/3 Marines on Guam, July 21, 1944.

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Finest Hour

Private First Class Luther Skaggs, Jr., USMCR (July 21-22, 1944)

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Luther Skaggs, Jr. was born in Henderson, Kentucky on March 3, 1923. He volunteered for the United States Marine Corps Reserve on October 6, 1942. After his recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina he was placed with the active Marine Corps in the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.

3/3 Marines, as part of the 3rd Marine Division, stormed ashore during the opening phases of the Battle of Guam, the largest of the Marianas Islands, on July 21, 1944.

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