Original Items: One-one-of-a-kind. One of the most amazing and comprehensive groupings we have ever offered, be sure to read about this incredible hero. Technician 5th Grade James L. Kirwin, army serial number 35341505, from Ft. Wayne Indiana enlisted in the US Army on the 10th of October, 1942. He became a combat medical and ambulance driver in the 121st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron or the 106th Cavalry Group. He participated in the Normandy invasion and the following campaigns; Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor and a Purple Heart medal for a wound sustained on April 4th, 1945 in Germany.
Kirwin kept incredible scrap books and photos albums from his time in Europe and inside the pages we discovered the original field issue "onion skin" Bronze Star Medal Citation which reads in part:
During the Ay River crossing on 26 July 1944, when one of the Suadron lead tanks was knocked out by an enemy mine, Cpl. Kirwin, with the Squadron Surgeon, picked his way through a heavily mined approach and made the river crossing in daylight under whitering artillery, mortar and small-arms fire to assist the Squadron Surgeon amputate the driver's leg. Cpl. Kirwin again passed through the minefield, returning under constant enemy sniper fire with plasma that was responsible for saving the man's life. The unswerving devotion to duty of Cpl. Kirwin in the face of extreme personal danger merits the highest praise to him, his unit and the military service.
Furthermore, Kirwin actually has a photo of him receiving his Bronze Star Medal in Austria June 1945.
Included in this amazing grouping are the following items:
- Ike jacket size 38S in excellent condition (exactly as seen in one of Kirwin photos) with 106th Cavalry patch on the left shoulder, 106th Cavalry enamel distinctive unit insignia on the lapels, the Belgian fourragère (shoulder cord), Medal ribbons: Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct, European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 4 Bronze Stars. Ruptured Duck, Technician 5th Grade Chevrons, and three overseas service bars on the left sleeve.
- Original Dog Tags
- Original Bronze Star Medal in Case.
- Original Purple Heart Medal in Case.
- Two Overseas Caps
- Medic arm band
- Two giant scrap books with dozens of wartime European Theater of Operations photos of Kirwin and his unit as well as news clippings, correspondence, orders, musings and notations. They are like stepping back in time, you can spend hours upon hours thumbing through them, truly amazing. Included is hi onion skin wartime Bronze Star Citation
- Stacks (50 ) of wartime letters and paper correspondence.
- Multiple large portrait photos of Kirwin in uniform.
- Copies of his honorable discharge and other official wartime documents
- Hardcover "History of the 106th Cavalry Group in Europe"
- Much Much More!
