Ardith Wayne Gilbreath
"Wayne"
Marine Corps Reserve | Service Number 512804
September 12, 1926
in Quitman, TX
Perry Mick Gilbreath
Era Bell (Avery) Gilbreath
Quitman High School (1943)
Details unknown
September 22, 1943
at Dallas, TX
April 10, 1944
from V Amphibious Corps
May 20, 1945
to MCB San Diego
November 29, 1945
Honorably discharged
Rural Route #4, Yantis, TX – address of father, Mr. Perry Gilbreath
Service & Campaigns
Enlisted at Dallas, Texas on 22 September 1943, and assigned active duty on 28 September. Boot camp at MCRD San Diego with Fourth Recruit Battalion; outposted to Company A, Infantry Battalion Training Center, Camp Elliott for advanced training.
Transferred to Replacement Battalion, V Amphibious Corps and deployed overseas to Hawaii. Joined Baker Company, First Battalion, 24th Marines at Camp Maui on 10 April 1944.
Outfit: B/1/24th Marines (2 Platoon)
Rank: Private
MOS: 746 (Automatic Rifleman)
Important Events:
June 16, 1944 – wounded in action (shrapnel, lower right arm); evacuated to USS Samaritan.
(Note: date of wound from battalion muster roll. USMC casualty card states June 17, 1944)
Admitted to US Naval Hospital #10 (Aiea Heights, Hawaii) on 5 July 1944. Returned to duty at Camp Maui on 15 August 1944.
Outfit: B/1/24th Marines (2 Platoon)
Rank: Private First Class
MOS: 745 (Rifleman) – assigned duty carrying platoon radio
Before the Iwo Jima landings, he asked to be taken off the BAR since he weighed about 130 lbs at the time and it was a chore to lug that rifle and all the ammunition around. He was made the platoon radio man. His platoon lieutenant when they hit the beach at Iwo Jima was Homer C. English. Sergeant Albert J. Estergall was on the Higgins boat with Dad and Lt. English at Iwo Jima.
– David W. Gilbreath, 2011
Important Events:
February 20, 1945 – wounded in action (gunshot, throat); evacuated to field hospital on beach.
February 28, 1945 – evacuated to USS Knox for additional treatment.
Transferred to USS President Jackson on March 6, 1945. Admitted to US Army Station Hospital #176 (Saipan) on 10 March 1945; discharged for return to duty on 13 March 1945.
Returned to duty with B/1/24th Marines at Camp Maui on 14 April 1945.
On 20 May 1945, transferred to West Coast Reclassification and Redistribution Center, MCB San Diego, for further assignment.
Joined Guard Company, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard Charleston, SC on 12 July 1945. Duty as messenger and guard through end of service.
Individual Decorations
Medal
Purple Heart
– with Gold Star
Campaign
Saipan (June 16, 1944)
Iwo Jima (February 20, 1944)
Citation
My grandfathers birthday is wrong here. His birthday was Sept 12 1926. There’s another relative with same name same area of east Texas. He also never in his life went my Ardith. His head stone reads Wayne.