Fred F. Lester
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Fred F. Lester
Fred Faulkner Lester (April 29, 1926 – June 8, 1945) was a United States Navy hospital corpsman who was killed in action during World War II while assigned to a Marine Corps rifle company. He was posthumously awarded the nation's highest military decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor, for heroic actions "above and beyond the call of duty" on June 8, 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa. Lester was buried at Clarendon Hills Cemetery in Darien, Illinois. The destroyer escort was named in his honor, as was Camp Lester, a Marine Corps installation, at Chatan, Okinawa, Japan, the former site of U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa. Biography Fred Lester was born on April 29, 1926, in Downers Grove, Illinois. U.S. Navy Reserve World War II Lester enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve on November 1, 1943, at age seventeen. He completed his recruit training at Naval Training Station, Farragut, Idaho. He was promoted to seaman second class in January 1944. He attended the Naval Ho ...
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Downers Grove, Illinois
Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. It is a south-west suburb of Chicago. The village is located between I-88 and I-55. History Downers Grove was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, a farmer who traveled to Illinois from Rutland, New York, but was originally from Vermont. Its other early settlers included the Blodgett, Curtiss, Blanchard, Stanley, Lyman, and Carpenter families. The original settlers were mostly migrants from the Northeastern United States and Northern Europe. The first schoolhouse was built in 1844. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was extended from Aurora to Chicago through Downers Grove in 1864, boosting its population. The town was incorporated in March 1873. Its somewhat unusual spelling ("Apostrophe-free since 1873") remains a minor historical mystery. In April 1947, the wreck of a Burlington Railroad ''Twin Cities Zephyr ...
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United States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Selected Reserve (SELRES), the Training and Administration of the Reserve (TAR), the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), or the Retired Reserve. Organization The mission of the Navy Reserve is to provide strategic depth and deliver operational capabilities to the Navy and Marine Corps team, and to the Joint forces, in the full range of military operations from peace to war. The Navy Reserve consists of 59,152 officers and enlisted personnel who serve in every state and territory as well as overseas as of September 2020. Selected Reserve (SELRES) The largest cohort, the Selected Reserve (SELRES), have traditionally drilled one weekend a month and performed two weeks of active duty annual training during the year, receiving base pay and certa ...
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American Campaign Medal
The American Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had performed military service in the American Theater of Operations during World War II. A similar medal, known as the American Defense Service Medal was awarded for active duty service before the United States' entry into World War II. History The American Campaign Medal was established per Executive Order 9265,6 November 1942, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and announced in War Department Bulletin 56, 1942. The criteria were initially announced in Department of the Army (DA) Circular 1, dated 1 January 1943, so that the ribbon could be authorized prior to design of the medal. The criteria for the medal were announced in DA Circular 84, dated 25 March 1948 and subsequently published in Army Regulation 600–65, dated 22 September 1948. The ...
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Presidential Unit Citation (United States)
The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy on or after 7 December 1941 (the date of the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the start of American involvement in World War II). The unit must display such gallantry, determination, and '' esprit de corps'' in accomplishing its mission under extremely difficult and hazardous conditions so as to set it apart from and above other units participating in the same campaign. Since its inception by President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the signing of Executive Order 9075 on 26 February 1942, retroactive to 7 December 1941, to 2008, the Presidential Unit Citation has been awarded in conflicts such as World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan. The collective degree of valor (combat heroism) against an armed e ...
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5/16 Inch Star
A inch star (9.7mm) is a miniature gold or silver five-pointed star that is authorized by the United States Armed Forces as a ribbon device to denote subsequent awards for specific decorations of the Department of the Navy, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A gold star indicates a second or subsequent decoration, while a silver star is worn in lieu of five gold stars. A ( inch) silver star is not to be confused with representing a Silver Star Medal (Silver Star). inch star usage inch stars are worn on a medal suspension and service ribbon with one point of the star pointing up. Up to five stars can be worn on a ribbon. There are no higher degrees of stars authorized after five silver stars. On miniature medals, a special star is worn on the medal's suspension ribbon in lieu of a star. If the number of authorized stars exceeds five, a second service ribbon is worn after the first service ribbon. The second service ribbon ...
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Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city of Okinawa Prefecture, with other major cities including Okinawa, Uruma, and Urasoe. Okinawa Prefecture encompasses two thirds of the Ryukyu Islands, including the Okinawa, Daitō and Sakishima groups, extending southwest from the Satsunan Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture to Taiwan ( Hualien and Yilan Counties). Okinawa Prefecture's largest island, Okinawa Island, is the home to a majority of Okinawa's population. Okinawa Prefecture's indigenous ethnic group are the Ryukyuan people, who also live in the Amami Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture. Okinawa Prefecture was ruled by the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1429 and unofficially annexed by Japan after the Invasion of Ryukyu in 1609. Okinawa Prefecture was officially founded in 1879 by the Empi ...
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6th Marine Division
The 6th Marine Division was a United States Marine Corps World War II infantry division formed in September 1944. During the invasion of Okinawa it saw combat at Yae-Take and Sugar Loaf Hill and was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation. The 6th Division had also prepared for the invasion of Japan before the war ended. After the war it served in Tsingtao, China, where the division was disbanded on April 1, 1946, being the only Marine division to be formed and disbanded overseas and never set foot in the United States. World War II Formation on the Solomon Islands The 6th Marine Division was activated on Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands on September 7, 1944. The 6th Division was formed from three infantry regiments, the 4th, 22nd, and 29th Marines and other units such as engineer, medical, pioneer, motor transport, tank, headquarters, and service battalions. The core cadre around which the division was formed was the former 1st Provisional Marine Brigade which includ ...
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22nd Marine Regiment
The 22nd Marine Regiment (22nd Marines) is an inactive United States Marine Corps infantry regiment. The regiment was commissioned in 1942 and was placed under the command of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, and the 6th Marine Division. It took part in fighting at the battles of Eniwetok, Guam, and Okinawa. The regiment also participated in the occupation of northern China following the war. 22d Marines was decommissioned in March 1946. The 22nd Marines was reactivated at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia in 1947 and but was again decommissioned in October 1949. Components The 22nd Marine Regiment was composed of three infantry battalions and one headquarters battalion. The 22nd Marines initially also had a ''2nd Separate Howitzer Battalion'' which would eventually become a battalion within the 15th Marine Regiment of the 6th Marine Division upon its formation. History Activation The 22nd Marine Regiment was commissioned on June 1, 1942, at Camp Elliot in San Diego, ...
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Fleet Marine Force
The United States Fleet Marine Forces (FMF) are combined general- and special-purpose forces within the United States Department of the Navy that perform offensive amphibious or expeditionary warfare and defensive maritime employment. The Fleet Marine Forces provide the National Command Authority (NCA) with a responsive force that can conduct operations in any spectrum of conflict around the globe. Organization The Fleet Marine Forces (FMF) consists of Marine Corps' operating forces components that constitute the Fleet Marine Forces on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, or within its "designate(s)". While the FMF is a Marine Corps organization, the FMF is a type command under the operational control of Navy fleet commanders; the Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) retains administrative and training control. The Commanding General of the Fleet Marine Force; either its Pacific (CG FMFPAC) or Atlantic (CG FMFLANT) command, are responsible for the administration and training o ...
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San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth most populous city in the United States and the county seat, seat of San Diego County, the List of the most populous counties in the United States, fifth most populous county in the United States, with 3,338,330 estimated residents as of 2019. The city is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches and parks, long association with the United States Navy, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center. San Diego is the List of municipalities in California, second largest city in the U.S. state, state of California, after Los Angeles. Historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego is frequently referred to as the "Birthplace of California", as it was the first site vi ...
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Naval Hospital Corps School
Naval Hospital Corps School was the United States Navy's only basic hospital corpsman school. It was located within Lake County, Illinois, at 601 D St., Bldg 130H, Naval Station, Great Lakes, Illinois 60088, for nearly a century. History It was established in January 1913. It is an "A" School. Its mission is to field Basic Hospital Corpsmen into the fleet. The mission of Naval Hospital Corps School is to develop, teach basic principles and techniques of patient care and first aid procedures and put forward Hospital Corpsmen into the fleet: aboard ships, aboard Naval Hospitals, Department of Defense medical facilities, with United States Marine Corps units, or elsewhere. Previously there were hospital corps schools located in San Diego, CA and Orlando, FL, and Bainbridge, MD. The Great Lakes A-School closed there after the last class graduated on July 28, 2011. Its last class was Class 11-125. The school relocated—along with the newly commissioned Naval Medicine Training Center ...
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