Leon Ramsey

Personal Information

Birthplace: Abilene, Kansas

Service Information

Branch of Service: Marine Corps

Unit: I Company, 3rd Battalion, 27th Regiment

Theater of Operation: Pacific

Enlisted / Commissioned: May 1, 1943

Discharged: Sep 1, 1945

Honored By: Eisenhower Foundation

Biography

I was inducted into the United States Marine Corps in May 1943 at Kansas City, KS and sent by train to San Diego, CA for basic training. After Boot Camp, I was selected for Parachute Training School, Camp Gillespie. After completing the training I received a Certificate of Proficiency for parachute packing, ground training, and jumping from a plane in flight. September 18, 1943 I was qualified as a Parachutist in the United States Marine Corps. Due to disbandment of the Marine Parachutes, we were sent to form the 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, CA and trained there until June 1944. We were sent to Camp Tarawa on the big Island of Hawaii, training there until January 1945. We boarded transport ships for Iwo Jima, landing on Iwo February 19, 1945 in the third wave. While securing the island I was wounded March 22, 1945 and awarded the Purple Heart. I returned to Camp Tarawa with the Division and was selected for the Navy V-12 College Program and sent to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. President Truman ordered the dropping of the Atomic Bomb and as the war ended I was given a choice to be discharged and did so in September 1945.