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» Forum Name: PT Boats - General
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» Topic:
Anyone mind helping?
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Hi everyone, just recently we found some old WW2 era items in my grandmas storage. One of the items was a box labeled "Purple Heart". Inside was, of course, a purple heart. But the mysterious thing was, we have no idea who this person is. The name doesn't sound familiar at all, so I figured I'd see if I could gather any possible information on the internet. Anyways, there was also a picture and another little medal - one that I'm not sure what was generally for, although I could assume it was for being in the war.
Purple Heart info:
Montie W. Goolsby Jr.
F1C
USNR
The bronze medal was a circle with a lady on the front holding a broken sword, and it had the text "World War II" on it. On the back, it has United States of America wrapped around the edges, with 1941-1945 labeled on the bottom. In the center are the words:
Freedom From Fear And Want
Freedon Of Speech And Religion.
I looked for the guys name on the homepage, and it listed him as died during the war. It doesn't list him under Purple Heart, however, which was sort of weird.
If anyone has ANY info on this, pleeaaase reply back or mail me @ dbaker06@gmail.com
Hopefully someone that posts here might have possibly known him or at least know where to look. We are trying to find out who his family is, and any info we can get.
Thanks!
Posted By: Baker | Posted on: Apr 21, 2008 - 3:10pm
Total Posts: | Joined: Unregistered
Baker,
The WW II Memorial Registry has him listed under the ABMC Tablets of the Missing, reserved for those who were initially MIA and declared dead sometime later, or those who were given a formal burial at sea. It also mentions the date of his death was December 30th, 1944--see the following link:
http://www.wwiimemorial.com/default.asp?page=registry.asp&subpage=search&drawtable=YES
Usually in cases of persons who are MIA, (and those of you that may be better informed, please correct me if I'm wrong here), the Navy will let about a year's time pass before they declare the missing serviceman KIA, which seems to be the case here. In regards to Fierman Goolsby, I would guess he died sometime around December, 1943. To check more on this if you are interested, I would suggest looking into the Military Personnel Records Center in St. Louis--see link below.
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/
I'll check more into this and see if I can come up with anything more.
All the best,
Gene K.
Posted By: comcardiv1 | Posted on: Apr 21, 2008 - 4:26pm
Total Posts: | Joined: Unregistered
Baker,
Here is a little more info:
From accessgeneology.com, Georgia Naval, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard WW II Casualty List:
[url]http://www.accessgenealogy.com/navy/georgia/g.htm[/url]
GOOLSBY, Montie Washington, Jr., Fireman 1c, USNR. Parents, Mr. and Mrs. Montie Washington Goolsby, Sr., 687 Capitol Ave., Atlanta.
From the MIA Personnel Tables of the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office:
[url]http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/WWII_MIA/NAV_M_G.HTM[/url]
GOOLSBY, MONTIE W JR
Service No.: 8936242
Service Name: USNR
Service Rank: F1C
Date of Loss: 12/30/1944
Posted By: comcardiv1 | Posted on: Apr 21, 2008 - 4:56pm
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Gidday Baker,
The other medal you describe is the World War 2 Victory Medal.It was awarded to all military personnel for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946.
Cheers Michael
Michael
Posted By: Michael | Posted on: Apr 21, 2008 - 6:03pm
Total Posts: 218 | Joined: Aug 6, 2007 - 7:25pm
Baker,
I looked up the United States Navy Memorial site and Montie W Goolsby Jr is listed as having served on USS.ORESTES-AGP-10.Which was a MTB Tender. The Orestes was attacked by Kamikaze on December 30 1944,Montie must have been one of the casualties on that day.Im sure other members of this board can fill you in more.Hope this helps.
Cheers
Michael
Posted By: Michael | Posted on: Apr 21, 2008 - 6:19pm
Total Posts: 218 | Joined: Aug 6, 2007 - 7:25pm
Wow, thanks for all the help! I didn't think I'd really get that much, it was a nice suprise. I'll look into all the links posted.
Once again, thanks a ton! It'll be nice to possibly give some closure to his family (That is, if there are any living) on where his belongings went!
Posted By: Baker | Posted on: Apr 21, 2008 - 7:46pm
Total Posts: | Joined: Unregistered
I'd also like to add that it was sort of odd how it came into my grandparents possession. We live in Texas, and according to the info this guy came from Georgia. My grandparents never went to Georgia, nor had any relatives serve in WW2. My grandpa, however, came from Tennesee and I remember seeing something about Tennesee on the ptboats page.. hmm.
Shame I can't ask them, they have passed.
Posted By: Baker | Posted on: Apr 21, 2008 - 7:55pm
Total Posts: | Joined: Unregistered