Captain Hugh Corrigan

 It's true, I haven't read every book written by Marines or about Marines in combat.  There simply is too many to get to them all.  That doesn't mean I'm not aware of them. Robert Leckie, a WWII Marine penned A Helmet for my Pillow about his service in the war.  

Leckie's story is partially depicted in the HBO series "The Pacific."   What I didn't realize was there was a local (local to being where I grew up in the Finger Lakes of Upstate NY) connection to this story.  I only found it out because I follow the local hsitorical societies and organizations on Facebook.

This morning, I found out that the character of "Lieutenant Ivy League" in Leckie's book was based on Hugh Corrigan who lived in the Ithaca area for 54 years after WWII.  The post by The History Center in Tompkins County posted a short piece about Corrigan with a link to his 2005 obituary.  

From his obituary, we know that Hugh was born in Yonkers, N.Y. on February 4, 1920. He graduated from Charles E. Gorton High School in Yonkers in 1938 and from Dartmouth College (in absentia) in 1942. At Dartmouth he played on the varsity football and baseball teams and enlisted in the Marine Corps ROTC.

Called up to duty following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hugh was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and in 1942 saw action with the 1st Marine Division, which was cited for valor by the Secretary of the Navy for its combat operations in Guadalcanal with 2d Battalion, 1st Marines. His platoon participated in the successful defense of Henderson Field against a superior Japanese force during the battle of the Tenaru River, the first victory over the Japanese in World War II.

He also commanded Company C, 6th Tank Battalion (per muster rolls) in action with the 6th Marine Division on Okinawa and was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received on May 15, 1945. Hugh was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946 as a Captain.

His obituary  goes on to tell you about Captain Corrigan after the war, his wife, his kids, and his activities.  Captain Corrigan died on 3 October 2005. Thank you Captain for your service.

Finding his story on a local Facebook post randomly this morning, I'm reminded of how many times these Marines come out of nowhere to get me to tell their stories.  I'm honored to do so.

Sergeant Robert L. Miller

 I met Sgt Miller while home wandering lost in a cemetery looking for a relative buried there, the same day I found PltSgt Hughes. However, because Sgt Miller has a very common name, he was a bit more elusive.  While not "cracked" I believe I have enough to tell you about Sergeant Robert Leigh Hughes, and give you a little insight into how I found what I did.

I knew simply starting to look at the Marine Corps muster rolls for Robert L Miller would yield so many names--and it did! Too many to determine which one was the Marine I was hunting for. 

I needed more info. Find-a-Grave is a great resource.  While it doesn't have everyone in every cemetery, sometimes the bits it does have can be very useful when combined with the tools of ancestry.com.

Sgt Miller's find-a-grave page has little biographical information but it did provide me his date of birth--15 April 1911.  That's just the year before my grandfather (12 Apr 1912) was born and about 63 years (and a day) til I was born!  Combined with the date of death (20 Dec 1975), I did a search in ancestry and found his draft registration card, and his enlistment and release dates.  

With these dates I could once again try the muster rolls and simply narrow the search to October 1945, and Sergeants.  Thankfully, there was only one.  While I cannot be 100% sure this is THE Sgt Miller I'm hunting for, it is a pretty good bet since the footnote in the muster roll indicated he was being sent back to the US for processing and discharge--and our Sgt Miller was discharged in December 1945.

Therefore, while I may have the wrong person, here's what I found, albeit in reverse chronological order, as that's how I had to search him--backwards, with known information.  October 1945: Assigned to 7th 155mm Gun Battalion--returning to the US for discharge

July 1945: Same unit, on Okinwa

April 1945: Same unit, landed and fought in battle of Okinawa

July 1944: Same unit; landed and fought on Guam

April 1944: 2d 155mm Artillery Battalion redesignated as 7th 155mm Gun Battalion

Earlier than this and things get a bit fuzzy.  I believe he's sent to recruit training at Parris Island, and then assigned to the 2d 155mm Artillery Battalion, but again, it's not 100% clear.

What I can tell you is that Sgt Miller was a Cortland City Police officer before enlisting in the Marine Corps at the ripe age of 29.  He was already married (1935) to Lillian Mae and living in Cortland.  

After the war, based on the photo at his find-a-grave page, he went home and returned to being a Police officer.  Regrettably, I was unable to locate an obituary for him so I can't tell you anything more than he died on 20 December 1975 and that his wife lived for another 27 years.

Sometimes the stories aren't clear and the research doesn't make it any better.  However, the stories still must be told.  So Sgt Miller, you are remembered! 

Platoon Sergeant Yale L. Hughes

Professionally, I'm a historian within the Department of Defense.  However, I cut my teeth in genealogy--researching my own family history.  In fact, it was at the Cayuga-Owasco Lakes Historical Society in Moravia, NY that I first learned what joy there was in helping people research history--something I've done the rest of my life/career.  So while visiting my folks in Upstate NY, I have taken to finding the burial locations of my many relatives (my father's family has been in this country since 1650, so many to find).  It's been during these visits that I have been sought out by the Marines in the cemetery.  

Just this past weekend, I visited the Cortland Rural Cemetery (in the heart of the city of Cortland, so not so rural these days) to locate Oliver and Elizabeth Hitchcock, my 3x great grandparents.  While there, I met two Marines, both WWII veterans.  Today, I'm honored to tell you what I know about Platoon Sergeant Yale L. Hughes.

Yale Lewis Hughes was born on 11 December 1922 in Oneida, New York.  His father Tremain was a pilot for the New York State Police, and was killed in an aircraft crash when Yale was just 10.  At sometime before World War II, his mother moved him and his brother and sister to Cortland, NY.  

On 26 December 1941, Hughes enlisted in the Marine Corps and was sent to recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina.  While there he was with the 4th Recruit Battalion.  Upon graduation, he transferred to the 9th Defense Battalion, and was sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  He remained with the 9th until it was readied to ship out for the Pacific, and Hughes was transferred to the 13th Defense Battalion in Cuba.  

By January 1943, while still in Cuba, Hughes was a Private First Class (PFC), and by April of the same year he was promoted to Corporal (Cpl) and in July 1943, he was a company clerk for the battalion.  Transfer was on the horizon for Cpl Hughes, as he's listed at Camp Elliott, California, in October 1943.  In January 1944, he was promoted to Sergeant and was assigned to the 7th Field Depot.

In WWII, the Marine Corps was a segregated service, just as the others.  However, it did not put black Marines in combat unit such as infantry, artillery or tanks.  Black Marines were placed in support units such as ammo companies, and field depot units.  The 7th Field Depot was a primarily black unit, and while not meant for combat, it saw combat as did Sgt Hughes.

From Blacks in the Marine Corps published by the Marine Corps History Division, "Saipan was the first target in the Marianas with D-Day 15 June 1944. The black Marines assigned to the 7th Field Depot helped load the supplies of the assault forces of the 2d and 4th Marine Divisions of the V Amphibious Corps." (pg 33).  "Indeed the black Marines had performed well under fire and the units of the 7th Field Depot that directly supported the 4th Marine Division, (3d Ammunition and 18th, 19th, and 20th Depot Companies) were included in the award of the Presidential Unit Citation given to that organization for its combat role on Saipan and Tinian. The latter island, close to Saipan, was taken in a classic shore-to-shore amphibious assault during the last week of July 1944." (pg 35)  All the while Sgt Hughes was with them.

At some time before January 1945, Hughes as promoted to Platoon Sergeant, and on 1 April he landed on Okinawa with his unit.  The 7th Field Depot was redesignated as the 7th Service Regiment but it continued as it had before, a segregated unit.  When the war ended, the 7th went to North China for occupation duty, and in October PltSgt Hughes was on his way back to the United States.   He was discharged on 7 February 1946.

As my research is based on available information in ancestry.com, newspapers.com, and other online materials, I am limited in what there is to find out.  I know that Hughes returned to Cortland, married in 1948 to Laura and lived together until his death on 19 December 1982; he was followed by Laura just four years later.

PltSgt Hughes' headstone is slowly sinking into the ground behind the dual headstone of his and Laura's.  I nearly walked right by him, but he found me and I was compelled to learn more about this Marine.  A veteran of Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa is no small feet; to serve with black Marines in combat is very unique and honorable.  Platoon Sergeant Hughes, you are not forgotten and thus live on again. 

Corporal Will Wilson

Some of the fiercest fighting of the Pacific in WWII was on Iwo Jima.  Corporal Will Wilson, originally from Pittsburgh, left a family and newborn son behind when called to go to war.  His story told for all to read, reads very similar to others who served in WWII.

From the article, "He said he didn't get hurt, but many of his fellow Marines did.  "We were lucky," Wilson said. "I was no hero, we were all doing our job.""  He said a mouthful here!


Thank you for your service and sacrifice Corporal Wilson.  You are certainly one of the many "Core of the Corps!"