Private James Miller was a machine gunner who joined C/1/24 midway through the battle of Iwo Jima. He suffered multiple wounds in action on March 8, 1945 – the most severe of which, in the clinical terms of a Marine casualty card, was “absence acquired left leg.” He spent his nineteenth and twentieth birthdays in Navy hospitals recovering from his wounds.
This special parking privilege, while small compensation for the loss of his leg, was an important step towards making post-war life more manageable for wounded servicemen. At the very least, it may have helped James get from his home to Lee’s Jewelry in Eureka, California, where he worked as a watchmaker for more than a decade.
Sadly, James Miller died in 1968, at the age of 41.
My dad served with this outfit, from the make up in Hawaii until Saipan. Hat’s off to all, and I hope the resting place of Miller reflects he was a Marine!