
NAME: Ellsworth Louis Blanchard |
NICKNAME: Pat |
SERVICE NUMBER: 876 59 95 |
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HOME OF RECORD: Salida, CO |
NEXT OF KIN: Parents, Louis & Esther Blanchard |
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DATE OF BIRTH: 4/4/1923 |
SERVICE DATES: 7/7/1943 – unknown |
DATE OF DEATH: 11/18/1987 |
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CAMPAIGN | UNIT | MOS | RATE | RESULT | |||
Iwo Jima | HQ/1/24 | Corpsman | PhM2c | WIA | |||
INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS: Bronze Star, Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK: Pharmacist’s Mate, Second Class |
Ellsworth Louis Blanchard was born in Aspen, Colorado and grew up at a gas station and lunchroom owned and operated by his parents in Salida. He attended Colorado State College, intending to graduate with the class of 1945. During his freshman year, he was active in Phi Kappa Tau and the dramatic society. In that year’s Silver Spruce yearbook, he was known as “Pat” Blanchard.
Blanchard left college to enlist in the Navy in mid-1943. At the end of his training at Field Medical School, he was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California as a PhM2c in the school’s mail room. This was not the assignment a trained corpsman actively sought, and in the fall of 1944, Blanchard joined the First Battalion, 24th Marines, then encamped on Maui.
Blanchard served in the battle of Iwo Jima, and so distinguished himself under fire on March 4, 1945 that he was recommended for the Bronze Star – a wound on March 8 made him eligible for the Purple Heart, as well. The recommendation came through in April, but the next month Blanchard suffered some sickness or injury that sent him to the hospital. He would received his medals on July 4, 1945; the following day, he was officially transferred to a Naval Hospital on Oahu, from which he was honorably discharged.
After the war, Ellsworth Blanchard settled in Pasadena, California. He stayed in the state until his death in Monterey on November 18, 1987.
Note: Some sources name him as Louis Ellsworth Blanchard.
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Have found family albums of Ellsworth Blanchard in our recently acquired home in Monterey (his post-war home). Am looking to contact any living relatives of his to return them to his family. Please contact me with any relevant address or phone number at my email address above. (8-17-2015).