Earl Klein

Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois

Branch of Service: Army

Unit: 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division

Theater of Operation: Pacific

Enlisted / Commissioned: Mar 29, 1943

Discharged: Dec 24, 1946

Military Honors: Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star with 'V' device, Purple Heart, American Theater Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Ribbon with 2 Bronze Stars, Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, and the Philippines Liberation Ribbon with 1 Bronze Star

Honored By: Cousin, George J. Green

Earl enlisted in the Army of the United States at Fort Sheridan, Ilinois, on March 29, 1943. After three months of Basic Infantry Training he was sent to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for Drivers and Communications School. He was classified as a Lineman 641. On October 21, 1943, he was shipped to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater to the 37th Infantry Division on Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands and assigned to headquarters 3rd Battalion 148 Infantry Regiment. On November 6, 1943, he embarked on the Naval Transport, APA USS Fuller for the battle of Bougainville, British Solomon Islands. They landed on the beaches of Cape Torokina on November 8, 1943. The same day they were exposed to a Japanese air raid of fighters and bombers that attacked and dropped several bombs on the USS Fuller. The 37th Div fought several major battles after the Marines left to protect the airfields from Japanese attacks. The Battle for Hill 700 in March of 1944 ended their attempt to retake the airfields.

Earl and his cousin George Green (a Marine) both served on Guadalcanal and Bougainville at the same time, though they didn’t know that until after the war. Earl’s duties for this battle and those in the Philippines was to provide the laying of telephone lines between companies in the regiment. From gun, mortar, and observers’ positions to Headquarters and maintaining repair on communications. He hooked up Army telephones and installed wire into switchboards, operating twelve whole switchboards. On December 16, 1944, the 37th Division left Bougainville for the assault on Lingayen Gulf, Philippines. Earl landed on January 9, 1945, and participated in the battles of the Philippines, where he was wounded and received the Purple Heart. He received the following awards: Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star with ‘V’ device, Purple Heart, American Theater Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Ribbon with 2 Bronze Stars, Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, and the Philippines Liberation Ribbon with 1 Bronze Star.