Leonard Joseph Purgill

Service # 284383

Entered Service From: Wisconsin

Rank: Private First Class, United States Marine Corps

Unit: Company "B", Sixth Amphibian Tractor Battalion (Provisional), 1st Marine Division, Fleet Marine Forces

Date of Death: 05 October 1944, killed in action on Peleliu, Palau

Buried: Manila American Cemetery – Plot F, Row 16, Grave 106

Awards: Purple Heart

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Anthony Purgill and Eva Anna Kubacka were listed as his foster parents.

Leonard Joseph Purgill of 2061 South 31st Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps (S/N 284383) on 13 May 1940. He is listed as Leonard Joseph Kubacki as well. Source: Veterans Affair Master Index

U. S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls: 01-30 October 1943

Company "A" First Armored Amphibian Battalion, Fleet Marine Force, Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California

Sergeant Leonard J. Purgill

Corporal Leonard J. Purgill. On 12 January 1944 he was "DC conv for disobedience of orders; sent to red to next inferior rank"

U. S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls: 01-30 April 1944

52nd Replacement Battalion, at Sea

Private First Class Leonard J. Purgill

U. S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls: 01-31July 1944

Company A, 10th Amphibian Tractor Battalion, COR TRS, III PHIB CORPS, C/O Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, California

Private First Class Leonard J. Purgill (S/N 284383). With rear echelon.

U. S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls: 01-05 October 1944

Sixth Amphibian Tractor Battalion (Provisional), Fleet Marine Forces, Pacific

Private First Class Leonard J Purgill (S/N 284383). "Killed in Action against the enemy (Japanese) 5 Oct 1944, at Peleliu Island, Palau Group, wounds, gunshot, abdomen, buried 05 Oct 44 in U.S. Armed Forces Cemetery #1, Grave #127, Section #4

Peleliu island is about 14 square miles. Major General William Rupertus, USMC—commander of 1st Marine Division—predicted the island would be secured within four days. However, due to Japan's well-crafted fortifications and stiff resistance, the battle lasted over two months. In the United States, it was a controversial battle because of the island's questionable strategic value and the high casualty rate (6,526 casualties, of whom 1,252 were killed), which was the highest for U.S. military personnel of any battle in the Pacific War. The National Museum of the Marine Corps called it "the bitterest battle of the war for the Marines". Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Peleliu

Of the 11,000 Japanese soldiers defending the island, only 202 were captured alive.

The battle was fought over the fact Peleliu had an airfield, and was within range of the Philippines, from where the US planned to eventually launch strikes against the Japanese mainland. The plan to attack Peleliu was a contentious one – not all of the US high command thought Peleliu was strategically important, and after the battle, the US found the airfield was barely operational, and posed almost no threat to US forces elsewhere in the Pacific. Source: http://thewiredjester.co.uk/2009/04/11/thousand-yard-stares-ruins-and-ghosts-of-the-battle-of-peleliu-1944-2008/

After the war his remains were brought to 7747 USAF Cemetery, Manila #2, Philippine Islands – Block 4, Row 19, Grave 2360 (D-D 9919). The deceased in Manila #2 (over 11,000 American soldiers) rested there until their removal to the American Graves Registration Service Manila Mausoleum in the summer of 1948. From there, according to the wishes of his next of kin (says father but he was foster parent, Mr. Anthony Purgill), Private First Class Leonard Joseph Purgill was buried in his final resting place "side by side with *comrades who also gave their lives for their country" in 7701 Fort William McKinley Military Cemetery (now known as the Manila American Cemetery) – Plot F, Row 16, Grave 106.

*16,859 graves of our military dead are buried in the Manila American Cemetery. Another 36,286 names are inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing.

WWII Casualties - Wisconsin Dead: Purgill, Leonard J., PFC., USMC. Foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Purgill, 2061 S. 31st St., Milwaukee.