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| PFC Edward Witkowski served with the 6th Marine Division on Okinawa until the attack on Sugar Loaf. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60977660/edward-john-witkowski https://www.sixthmarinedivision.com/16SugarLoafNec.html |
Edward John Witkowski never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on November 7, 1919 in Michigan. His parents John and Mary Ann were born in Poland and New York, respectively. All four grandparents were from Poland. His father worked as a rubber factory tire presser. Edward had one older sister, two older brothers, and one younger sister. His mother died of a strangulated hernia in 1930. He married Virginia Nowierski in 1939. They had two children before Edward joined the Marines.
He volunteered for the US Marine Corps in July 1944. He became a private first class in the Headquarter Company, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division. He was sent to Guadalcanal in December 1944 where he joined his unit in training as a replacement. The 6th MD companies needed up to 50% replacements for the losses taken from the Battle of Guam.
The 6th MD landed on Okinawa on the first day of the battle, April 1, 1945. Initial resistance was light. The 6th MD was tasked with clearing the north end of the island where the Japanese had fewer troops. By April 18, the north end of Okinawa was secured. The 6th MD was then sent to the south where the Japanese had set up layer after layer of strong defenses. On May 8, it replaced depleted 1st Marine Division units on the west flank and proceeded with the difficult work of dislodging the Japanese from the Shuri Line. They crossed the Asa River by May 11, advancing under nearly continuous artillery fire.
The next objective was Hill 52, nicknamed Sugar Loaf. By this time the May rains were pretty much never-ending. Between May 12 and May 18 the Marines attacked the hill 11 times. Some companies were all but wiped out. American casualties exceed 2,000. One of those killed was PFC Witkowski on May 15, 1945. Fighting on Okinawa would continue for another month but this costly victory told the Japanese that there was no hope of avoiding a total defeat.
Virginia gave birth to their third child, Betty, six days before Edward was killed. It is unlikely he learned of the birth. The baby died in November 1945.
Edward's grave is at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan. His widow remarried and died in 1957. I don't know what happened to his other two children.
Last year on this date I profiled one of the D-Day fallen, Silver Star hero Ruggiero Ginnetti, 1st Infantry Division. You can read about Ruggiero here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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