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NAME Vincent William Bailey |
NICKNAME — |
SERVICE NUMBER 247730 |
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| UNIT Marine Air Group (MAG) 21 attached VMF-211 Radioman |
HOME OF RECORD 1506 West 64th Street Seattle, WA |
NEXT OF KIN Wife, Mrs. Hazel Bailey |
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| DATE OF BIRTH October 16, 1917 at Spokane, WA |
ENTERED SERVICE April 6, 1935 at Seattle, WA |
DATE OF LOSS January 22, 1942 |
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| REGION Pacific Ocean |
CAMPAIGN / AREA Captured at Wake Island |
CASUALTY TYPE Executed while POW |
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| CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS Technical Sergeant Vincent W. Bailey was a radioman assigned to VMF-211 during the defense of Wake Island. He was captured when the island fell on 23 December 1941 and put aboard the Nitta Maru for transport to a POW camp. On 22 January 1942, the Japanese captors chose five POWs – including Bailey and MTSgt. Earl Hannum – for execution in reprisal for their own losses in the battle for Wake. The prisoners were clumsily beheaded and used for bayonet practice before being thrown into the sea. |
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| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Purple Heart, Prisoner of War Medal |
LAST KNOWN RANK Technical Sergeant |
STATUS OF REMAINS Thrown overboard from hellship Nitta Maru |
MEMORIALS Honolulu Memorial |
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Biography:
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