WWII Two 5th Marine Division Coats Iwo Jima

I haven't been posting to much lately but here is a quick lowdown on two recent coat purchases, both belonging to Marines in the 5th Marine Division. The left coat belong to a Marine who was in A Co, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines. He was WIA during the Battle of Iwo Jima and taken back to Oakland where he recovered from his wounds. He was a local Californian, which is where I purchased this coat from. The second coat on the right belong to a Marine in the 5th Medical Battalion and also participated in the battle of Iwo Jima. When the 5th MarDiv was disestablished he was moved over into the 2nd Marine Division and was later discharged.

WWII Navy Corpsman Unit 3 Bag First Aid

Here is a great example of the not often found Unit-3 bag that was used by Navy Corpsman who were attached to USMC units. I'm still missing a pair of bags for my collection of this classic piece of field gear webbing.

Here is a Corpsman Bag that came my way, its missing one of its hangers but very nice overall.

WWII 5th Marine Division The Spearhead Magazines

I was lucky enough to acquire two of the three 5th MarDiv produced Spearhead Magazines as published by the Division and given to the Marines in the 5th. It appears three were originally published during WWII and are different from the Spearhead Newsletter that is associated with the 5th Marine Division Association. As far as I know only three were produced, a Camp Pendleton Edition, and Iwo Jima Edition and the Japan Occupation Edition. Unfortunately I was not able to purchase the Occupation Edition. These magazines are fantastic. Pendleton issue has many great pictures of the Marines in training for the then unknown Iwo Jima Invasion. There are also some great pictures of the surrounding areas and what the Marines did when they were not training.

The Iwo Jima Edition features many Official USMC photos of the battle but there are also many pictures I haven't seen anywhere else.

The third and last issue highlights the Japan Occupation. I am not sure if anymore issues were produced and after talking to some Iwo Vets and famlies of Iwo vets it appears only these issues were produced. Incredible magazines and documentation of the 5th MarDiv.