| NAME: Jimmy Edward Bailey |
NICKNAME: — |
SERVICE NUMBER: 950632 |
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| HOME OF RECORD: Bluefield, WV |
NEXT OF KIN: Parents, Mr & Mrs Earl Bailey |
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| DATE OF BIRTH: 10/24/1927 |
SERVICE DATES: 1944 – 1954 |
DATE OF DEATH: 9/11/1988 |
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| CAMPAIGN | UNIT | MOS | RATE | RESULT | |||
| Iwo Jima | B/1/24 | 521 | Private | WIA | |||
| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS: Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK: Private First Class (WWII) Corporal (Korea) |
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Jimmy Bailey was born and raised in West Virginia. He was inducted into the Marine Corps in June, 1944 and trained at Parris Island and Camp Lejeune before being assigned to the 30th Replacement Draft based out of Camp Elliott, California.
Private Bailey boarded a ship bound for Iwo Jima in January, 1945, and landed in a reserve wave shortly after the main landings on February 19. He was one of a handful of Marines assigned to Company B, 24th Marines on February 24. After a few days in the comparative safety of a reserve area, Bailey’s new company was sent back to the front lines; sometime in early March, a Japanese soldier shot Bailey in the buttocks. He was evacuated to a hospital ship, and then to the USS Munda for transport to a naval hospital.
After recuperating at a naval hospital in San Diego, Bailey was returned to Camp Lejeune, where he ended the war as a member of the First Control Battalion. Rather than go back to civilian life, Bailey chose to remain with the Marines, and embarked on a career that would last nearly ten years. He was released from inactive reserve status in 1954 with the rank of corporal.
Few other details of Bailey’s life are available. He died in Clark, Nevada in 1988.