Ralph Ignatowski
Ralph A. Ignatowski | |
|---|---|
| File:Ralph3.gif | |
| Nickname(s) | "Iggy" |
| Allegiance | USMC |
| Years of service | 1943-1945 |
| Rank | Private First Class |
| Unit | 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Iwo Jima |
| Awards | Purple Heart Presidential Unit Citation with Star Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal |
Private First Class Ralph Anthony "Iggy" Ignatowski (born April 8, 1926 - died between March 4 and March 7, 1945) was a U.S. Marine who was tortured and killed by Japanese troops during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
He was best friends with Iwo Jima flag raiser John Bradley. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Polish-born Walter Ignatowski and a German mother, the former Frances Thomas.
Entry into the Marine Corps
Ignatowski flunked his physical when he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1943. However, he brought in a friend's urine and passed the physical. He was assigned to Company E, 2d Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, with future Iwo Jima flag raisers Ira Hayes, John Bradley, Rene Gagnon, Franklin Sousley, Harlon Block, and Michael Strank.
Regimental records
According to military records, Ignatowski was at sea aboard the USS Missoula on February 5, 1945, and arrived at Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands on February 7. Ignatowski was at sea from February 8 to 10, and disembarked at Saipan, Marianas Islands, on February 11. He then boarded LST-481 and sailed to Iwo Jima from February 11 to 18. On February 19, 1945, Ignatowski and Easy Company arrived at Iwo Jima.
Regimental records indicate that Ignatowski was wounded in the jaw by shrapnel on February 20, 1945, but returned to duty the same day. During the battle, on March 4, 1945, Ignatowski was captured, tortured and murdered along with another Marine, Second Lieutenant Leonard Sokol. Their bodies were discovered on March 7, 1945. The following entries from the 28th Marine Regiment records describe the timeline of their deaths:
- Mar 4, 1845 hrs - Fr LT228 - One P. F. C. from Easy Co, name unknown, believed captured by Japs in vicinity of Hill 215.
- Mar 4, 2030 hrs - Fr LT228 - Lt. Sokol was killed at 1330 at 233 X and body taken by Nips - No maps or shackle codes known to be on his person according to Capt Severance.
- Mar 4, 2100 hrs - Fr LT 228 - All quiet - Easy Co reports Japs were definitely seen grabbing man into cave near where Lt. Sokol's body disappeared.
- Mar 7, 1900 hrs - Fr. LT228 - Body of captured PFC from "E" Co (Ignatowski) had apparently been searchd (pack emptied) and tortured - arm broken, body beaten. Location 450 yds north of tip of Hill 362. Forward and left of E Co's present CP - Lt. Sokol's body nearby mutilitated by one of our own flame throwers.
- Mar 7, 1940 hrs - Fr D2 - Corps requests written statements from men in "E" Co who saw Ignatowsky captured.
- Mar 8, 0855 hrs - Fr 5th Div. Red Cross - Request details on capture of PFC Ignatowsky "E" Co. Call Mr. Thomas c/o Columbus #1
- Mar 8, 1010 hrs - Fr LT228 - Ignatowski body evacuated with Lt. Sokol's. En route, via Regt.
- Mar 8, 1150 hrs - To D2 - Requested Regimental ARC representative and Regimental Surgeon examine body of P.F.C. Ignatowsky and prepare affidavits.
- Mar 9, 1154 hrs - Fr D2 - Requests detail re Ignatowsky and statements: a. Circumstances of capture b. Events intervening between capture and recovery. c. Circumstances of recovery of body.
Death
Ignatowski's death is referenced in several books:
- In his book Semper Chai!: Marines of Blue and White (and Red) about Jews in the U.S. Marine Corps, author Howard J. Leavitt collected eyewitness reports regarding the actual circumstances of Ignatowski and Sokol's deaths, including a letter to the surviving members of the family of Lieutenant Sokol by fellow Marine James Buchanan:
- "On March 3, Private Ralph Ignatowski was somehow dragged into a cave within a small canyon. What I tell you next is what I heard but did not see. He may have tried to rescue Ignatowski, but I don’t know for sure.”
- “I walked into the canyon and found Lieutenant Sokol on a road, Ralph Ignatowski close behind. An officer approached me and said, 'Don’t touch them. We may have an atrocity here.’ I understand Ralph had been bayoneted numerous times; some punctures bled, some did not.”
- Ignatowski's death is also mentioned in the book Flags of Our Fathers, coauthored by the son of flag raiser John Bradley. The following are his recollections of Ignatowski's death:
- I have tried so hard to black this out. To forget it. We could choose a buddy to go in with. My buddy was a guy from Milwaukee. We were pinned down in one area. Someone elsewhere fell injured and I ran to help out, and when I came back my buddy was gone. I couldn’t figure out where he was. I could see all around, but he wasn’t there. And nobody knew where he was.
- A few days later someone yelled that they’d found him. They called me over because I was a corpsman. The Japanese had pulled him underground and tortured him. His fingernails... his tongue... It was terrible. I’ve tried hard to forget all this."
- Many years later, in researching my father’s life, I asked Cliff Langley, Doc’s co-corpsman, about the discovery of Iggy’s body. Langley told me it looked to him as though Ralph Ignatowski had endured just about every variety of physical cruelty imaginable.
- "Both his arms were fractured," Langley said. "They just hung there there like arms on a broken doll. He had been bayoneted repeatedly. The back of his head had been smashed in."
- In the film Flags of Our Fathers, Ignatowski was portrayed by actor Jamie Bell. He is seen in the opening scenes at Iwo Jima, and the film chronicles Bradley's search for Ignatowski. In the end, Ignatowski's body is found, but it is only alluded to; the viewer never sees the body. During the film, Bradley constantly asks, "Where is he?" as he flashbacks to the battle and his search for his buddy.
- In the film Letters from Iwo Jima, a nameless American soldier is beaten and bayonnetted repeatedly. This is a possible allusion to Ignatowski's grisly demise.
- Other eyewitness reports further indicated that Ignatowski had been tortured in the cave by the Japanese for three days, during which time they also cut out his eyes, cut off his ears, smashed in his teeth, and cut off his genitalia and stuffed them into his mouth. [1]
Aftermath
Ignatowski was awarded the Purple Heart with Gold Star, Presidential Unit Citation with Star, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
His remains were initially interred with military honors in Grave 1201, Row 11, Plot 5, Fifth Marine Division Cemetery, Iwo Jima; in 1949 Ignatowski's body was exhumed and reinterred at the Rock Island, Illinois National Military Cemetery.
The AMVETS Ralph A. Ignatowski Memorial Post 60, Oak Creek, Wisconsin, was officially dedicated on Sunday, June 3, 1956.
References
- Semper Chai!: Marines of Blue and White (and Red), Howard J. Leavitt
- Muster Roll of Officers and Enlisted Men of the U.S. Marine Corps, Second Battalion, Twenty-Eighth Marines, Fifth Marine Division Fleet Marine Force, 1 February to 28 February 1945
- First Battalion of the 28th Marines on Iwo Jima, Bob Allen
- Flags Of Our Fathers,, James Bradley, Bantam Books, Division of Random House, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York, 10036, May 2000, p. 344-345