WWII 5th Division Marine Uniform: Combat Wounded Iwo Jima Survivor
Prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the United States involvement in WWII, Elmer L. Clark worked as a sales clerk in the menswear department at J.C. Penney’s in Moultrie, Georgia. Elmer was inducted in the Marine Corps on March 27, 1943 and went through basic training on Paris Island, where he trained to be a mortarman (MOS 607) a rifleman (MOS 745), and a qualified combat swimmer.
On April 22, 1945, Elmer was attached to B Co., 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division. His unit embarked aboard LST 929 at Kawaihae, Hawaii on January 10, 1945 and began their voyage to the pacific theater. After a stop at Saipan, Mariana Islands, they boarded again for their final destination, Iwo Jima.
On February 19, 1945 Elmer charged Iwo Jima beach with his mortar crew and the 5th Mar Div. He fought until being wounded by gunshot at the base of his skull. Elmer was medevaced aboard the USS Highlands. By March 5, 1945, Elmer was recovering at the 148th General Hospital in San Francisco, CA.
On May 22, 1945 Elmer was transferred to the 1st Training Bn, 1st Training Rgt at Camp Lejune, N.C., where he served until the war ended. Elmer was discharged February 7, 1946 and earned the following awards during his military service:
Purple Heart Medal
USMC Good Conduct Medal
American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 Bronze Star
Presidential Unit Citation
WWII Victory Medal
USMC Sharpshooter Rifle Badge
Elmer passed away on September 9, 2002. His USMC Class A blouse and trousers were rescued from the trash by his great nephew when his wife’s estate was being liquidated.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I wanted to make you aware that the lower ribbon bar on Emler Clark’s uniform is backwards. The American Campaign Medal ribbon is the senior award, while the WW-II Victory Medal ribbon is the junior award. You can tell it was just placed on the uniform upside down by looking at clark4.jpg as the center color’s on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon should be blue, white, then red (from the wearer’s right) as the color blue is the senior color.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Robert,
Thank you for viewing my site and reading the article about Elmer Clark. I agree the ribbons are reversed, but they are as I received the uniform from the vet’s family. Note the campaign star on the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon is pointing up in it current configuration, which leads be to believe this is how the Clark wore his ribbons. Therefore, I do not intend to alter them, but I will make a note in the image caption they are not in correct order. Thanks again for your comment.
best,
Chris Hughes
April 9th, 2010 at 6:36 am
My Brother Allen Dennis Purington CPL USMC
served with Elmer on Iwo.
He is no longer with us.