Richard Joseph Brodnicki

Marine Corps Reserve | Service Number 482120

Born

March 2, 1921
in Buffalo, NY

Parents

Joseph Stephen Brodnicki
Mary (Duszynski) Brodnicki

School

Buffalo Technical High School

Pre-War Employment

A. S. Beck Shoe Corporation

Entered Service

October 6, 1942
at Buffalo, NY

Joined First Battalion

December 20, 1942
from Casual Co., Parris Island

Left First Battalion

July 25, 1944
Killed in action at Tinian

Left Service

July 25, 1944
Killed in action

Home Address and Next of Kin

186 South Ogden Street, Buffalo, NY – address of parents, Joseph and Mary Brodnicki

Service & Campaigns

Before joining battalion

Outfit: enter here
Rank: enter here
MOS: Code (Type)
Important Events:
in chronological order
Wounded/sick/
Promoted
Decorated

Roi-Namur

Outfit: A/1/24th Marines
Rank: PFC
MOS: 055 (Clerk)

Campaign Narrative

Saipan

Outfit: A/1/24th Marines
Rank: PFC
MOS: 745 (Rifleman)

Campaign Narrative

Tinian

Outfit: A/1/24th Marines
Rank: PFC
MOS: 055 (Clerk)
Important Events:
July 25, 1944 – killed in action (gunshot, head) while defending against a banzai attack.
Note: Military sources give July 25 as Brodnicki’s date of death; some others, including his grave marker, give July 24. An eyewitness account states he was found dead in his foxhole following the counterattack on July 25.

Campaign Narrative

Individual Decorations

Medal
Purple Heart

Campaign
Tinian (July 25, 1944)

Citation
—

Service Stories

Please share a story if you knew this Marine.

I decided to look around to see if I could help any of my buddies who were wounded. The firefight that we had just finished had left me nearly deaf. I could not hear the wounded crying for help. The only way I could help is to go to the foxholes that did not have a live marine’s head sticking up. I decided to get out of my hole and see what I could do for them. Brodnicki occupied the first hole I went to. I rolled him over on his back and noticed that he had been shot between the eyes.