By a stroke of absolute luck, while in Gettysburg I spotted a tattered copy of Gyrene by Wilbur D. Jones. I bought it (who could resist, for only $5) and was leafing through it that night when I came across the following pictures:
William Quinn and wife June at The Stork Club, NYC. Bill Quinn was a rifle squad leader in Able Company, and June was a reporter for the Times in New York, Los Angeles, and their hometown of Hartford, CT.
Quinn and William Linkins hoisting Dalton Young and James De Nicola at Camp Pendleton, 1943.Bill Quinn was hit by a piece of concrete from an exploding Japanese blockhouse while landing on Namur. Al Perry, who was nearby, remembered that "blood was streaming from his arm, which looked as if it was hardly attached to his shoulder." Luckily, the wound was not as serious as it looked, and Quinn eventually returned to the company, only to be hit again July 8, 1944,on Saipan. After his second evacuation, he was not returned to active duty.
William Linkins, Quinn's best friend, advanced to the rank of Sergeant, and was awarded both the Silver Star and Bronze Star. On July 25, 1944, while fighting on Tinian, a shell fragment hit him in the head. Linkins died exactly three months short of his twenty second birthday. He is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Dalton Young, of St. Albans, West Virginia, was wounded on Namur. He never returned to the company.
James De Nicola was wounded June 23, 1944, while fighting on Saipan. He was evacuated to Naval Hospital #10, and was still hospitalized a month later when Able Company landed on Tinian. Like Quinn, Saipan would be his last battle - but he would survive the war.
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