Valentine Ulakovits, Jr.

Marine Corps Reserve | Service Number 554572

Born

February 8, 1927
in Tampa, FL

Parents

Valentine Ulakovits, Sr.
Emeline (Rattenbury) Ulakovits

School

Details unknown

Pre-War Employment

Valentine’s Auto Paint Shop

Entered Service

March 9, 1944
at Orlando, FL

Joined First Battalion

September 18, 1944
from Replacement Battalion, FMF Pacific

Left First Battalion

February 23, 1945
Wounded in action at Iwo Jima

Left Service

August 9, 1945
Honorably discharged

Home Address and Next of Kin

519 East Elm Street, Tampa, FL – address of parents, Valentine & Emeline Ulakovits

Service & Campaigns

Before joining battalion

Enlisted at Orlando, FL on 9 March 1944. Boot camp at Parris Island with 10th Recruit Battalion; outposted to 65th Replacement Battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Deployed to Hawaii summer 1944.

Joined Charlie Company, First Battalion, 24th Marines at Camp Maui on 18 September 1944.

Iwo Jima

Outfit: C/2/14th Marines
Rank: Private First Class
MOS: 745 (Rifleman)
Important Events:
February 23, 1945 – wounded in action (shell fragments, right side); evacuated to USS Hendry.

Campaign Narrative

After leaving battalion

Admitted to US Army Station Hospital #369 (Saipan) on 1 March 1945. Transferred to Casual Company #4, US Naval Hospital San Diego, then to US Naval Hospital Jacksonville, FL, in summer 1945.

Honorably discharged on 9 August 1945.

Individual Decorations

Medal
Purple Heart

Campaign
Iwo Jima (February 23, 1945)

Citation

I recall one small and youthful 18-year-old private... who was stumbling back unaided. He was dazed from concussion, carrying small bits of shrapnel in his skin, and in his hand was his prize possession — a Jap rifle! His own weapon had been discarded, and he would accept no help, nor allow anyone to lay a hand on his own prized souvenir.

Frederic A. Stott C/1/24th Marines

Valentine died on October 26, 2012 and is buried in Serenity Meadows Memorial Park, Riverview, Florida.

Gallery

The Jacksonville Journal, 4 April 1945.

The Tampa Times, 26 April 1945.

The Tampa Times, 29 April 1945.

Ulakovits registered for Selective Service after his discharge from the Marines.

2 thoughts on “Valentine Ulakovits, Jr.”

Aaron Empsall May 29, 2016 at 11:31 am

Reply

Valentine was my grandfather. He passed away in 2012.
Dustin cannon November 20, 2025 at 11:46 pm

Reply

I believe Valentine was a cousin to my Uncle Kelvin Ulakovits, he served in Vietnam as technical sergeant for the USAF. I wished I knew more about the both of these two