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Stephen Edward Navara

"Steve"
Marine Corps Reserve | Service Number 445617
Born

April 18, 1921
in Bitoman, PA

Parents

Michael Navara
Nellie (Pitek) Navara

School

Details unknown

Pre-War Employment

Miner
Rockhill Coal & Iron

Entered Service

August 25, 1942
at Pittsburgh, PA

Joined First Battalion

October 19, 1942
from 6th Sep. Recruit Bn., New River

Left First Battalion

February 1, 1944
Killed in action at Namur

Left Service

February 1, 1944
Killed in action

Home Address and Next of Kin

Box 103, Wood, PA – address of mother, Mrs. Nellie Navara

Service & Campaigns
Before joining battalion

Boot camp with 6th Separate Recruit Battalion, New River, NC. Outposted directly to HQ Company, First Separate Battalion (Reinforced) on 19 October 1942. Transferred to D Company on 10 November 1942.

Roi-Namur

Outfit: D/1/24th Marines
Rank: PFC
MOS: 504 (Ammo handler) – acting squad leader
Important Events:
February 1, 1944 – killed in action at Namur (gunshot, head); exact details unknown

Campaign Narrative

Individual Decorations

Medal
Purple Heart

Campaign
Namur (Feb. 1, 1944)

Citation

Service Stories

“I do not know how many men we lost along the way. I saw the body of Carmen Ramputi, one of the company comedians. Steve Navara was lying on his back, staring at the sky with unseeing eyes. My friend Parkison died, and I noticed he bled all over a picture of his wife to be. They were among my close personal friends. All through the war, when I saw a dead man with his eyes wide open, I wondered what he was looking at when his soul left his body.”

John Pope

Stephen is buried in Ave Maria Cemetery, Dudley, Pennsylvania.
Gallery

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