Charles Vern Case
PFC Charles V. Case served with Baker Company, First Battalion, 28th Marines.
He was reported missing action at Iwo Jima on 1 March 1945.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 449839
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by DPAA
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
April 7, 1923
in Kendallville, IN
Parents
Charles Cyrenus Case
Bernice M. (Elsey) Case
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
August 22, 1942
at Indianapolis, IN
Home Of Record
2000 Borneman Avenue
Elkhart, IN
Next Of Kin
Parents, Charles & Bernice Case
Military Specialty
Demolitions
(MOS 533)
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart (Iwo Jima)
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On 1 March 1945, BLT 1-28th Marines took over the assault on Hill 362(A), a heavily fortified height obstinately blocking the northward push of the Fifth Marine Division. Although the crest of the hill and nearby high ground fell relatively quickly, extremely heavy fire from Nishi Ridge – the next terrain feature to the north – stymied all attempts to fully subdue the many caves and emplacements honeycombing the hill. Able and Baker Companies tried to encircle Hill 362A, but both were stopped short and pulled back with heavy casualties.
PFC Charles V. Case, a boxing prodigy from Indiana, was among those making the assault with Baker Company. PFC Lee Zuck shared a foxhole with Case until they moved up to their assault positions; after that, he never saw Case again. In the exhaustively researched The First Battalion of the 28th Marines, Robert E. Allen (himself a BLT 1-28 veteran) writes that Case “disappeared into oblivion” – which is how it must have appeared to many of his comrades.*
However, two other Marines spotted Charles Case near Hill 362A – the stretcher team of PFC Louis W. Vincent and Private Stanley V. Wineka. They were having a busy time carrying wounded men to medical care, and acted quickly when they saw Case’s condition.
Vincent and Wineka dropped Case at this aid station and then hurried back for more casualties, assuming their buddy would be treated and evacuated. Case was noted on the muster rolls as “wounded and evacuated” on 1 March 1945, but never turned up in any rear-area hospital. Nor was his name found on any of the 26th Marines’ casualty records.
Exactly what happened to Case after he reached the aid station is unknown. He was eventually declared dead on 2 March 1946.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; identifiable remains not recovered.
For more information on Charles Case, including documentation and his Purple Heart, see “tdogchristy90” on US Militaria Forum.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of parents, Charles & Bernice Case
Location Of Loss
Site of Hill 362A (“Osakayama”), Iwo Jima
