Richard Frederick Schmidt, Jr.

Marine Corps Regular | Service Number 299621

Born

July 21, 1922
in Billings, MT

Parents

Richard Frederick Schmidt, Sr.
Irmgaard (Zimmerman) Schmidt

School

Details unknown

Pre-War Employment

High school student

Entered Service

October 9, 1940
at Denver, CO

Joined First Battalion

February 21, 1944
from Fourth Signal Battalion

Left First Battalion

March 4, 1945
Wounded and evacuated from Iwo Jima

Left Service

March 7, 1945
Died of wounds

Home Address and Next of Kin

6020 3rd Ave. NW, Seattle, WA – address of wife, Mrs. Madonna Rose (Taylor) Schmidt, and son Richard Schmidt III (born 1944)
The Schmidts also recorded addresses in Mattoon and Chicago, Illinois.

Service & Campaigns

Before joining battalion

Boot camp at MCRD San Diego with First Recruit Battalion; outposted to Sea School, MCB San Diego on 7 December 1940. Assigned to Marine Detachment, USS Phoenix (CL-46). Duty aboard Phoenix through summer 1943; participated in combat operations at Pearl Harbor and convoy support duty in the Southwest Pacific.

On 15 July 1943, transferred to Guard Company #1, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard Puget Sound, Bremerton, Washington. Duty at Bremerton through 17 January 1944, at which time transferred to Fourth Signal Company for deployment overseas.

Joined Baker Company, First Battalion, 24th Marines at Camp Maui on 21 February 1944.

Saipan

Outfit: B/1/24th Marines
Rank: Corporal
MOS: 746 (Automatic Rifleman)
Important Events:
June 16, 1944 – wounded in action (gunshot, left chest); evacuated to USS Bountiful for treatment

Campaign Narrative

Tinian – not present

Did not participate in Tinian campaign due to wounds.

Admitted to US Naval Hospital #10, Aiea Heights, Hawaii, for treatment. Discharged from hospital on 23 July 1944; returned to Camp Maui and rejoined battalion rear echelon.

Iwo Jima

Outfit: B/1/24th Marines
Rank: Corporal
MOS: 533 (Demolitions)
Important Events:
March 4, 1945 – wounded in action (shrapnel in spinal cord & back, sucking chest). Evacuated to USS Callaway for treatment.
March 7, 1945 – died of wounds aboard USS Callaway
Buried in Plot C, Row 17, Grave 15, Army/Navy/Marine Corps Cemetery #2, Guam

Campaign Narrative