John Emile Baxter was born October 30, 1920 and died in the Pensacola area at the young age of 44 on April 20, 1965. He was one of only 495 enlisted Marine pilots in WW2. He joined the Marine Corps January 16, 1942. He was promoted to the rank of Major on August 1, 1958. Thanks to a fellow collector his commissioning date was found to be March 8, 1944. He most likely was on active duty when he died in 1965. He is listed in the book "Enlisted Naval Aviation Pilots of the United States Navy Marines and Coast Guard" on page 3 with a winging date of 1943. He is listed in "The 1959 Register of Commissioned Officers" as a Naval Aviator. He is listed on page 291 of Jane Blakeney's book "Heroes US Marine Corps" for his receipt of the Distinguished Flying Cross in WW2.
Baxter's group includes two sets of mounted miniature medals with their original Hillborn Hamburger boxes, 8 individual ribbon bars, DFC and AM lapel pins, WW2 vintage 3rd Amphibious Corps patch, Bullion EGA clutchback blazer patch, Penguin brand lighter with image of Okinawa, numerous rank insignia, USMC tie clip, Officers 1937 pattern overseas cap EGA, small South Korean Marine Corps emblem, shooting badges, tie clip with F8F Bearcat fighter attached, brown plastic buttons for officers Alpha uniform, 3 slide on belt buckles for the Alpha, and two brass buckles for the khaki web belt.
Baxter's miniature medals include Distinguished Flying Cross with two stars, Air Medal with three stars, Navy Marine Commendation medal with V for valor, Marine Corps Good Conduct medal with two stars indicating at least 9 years enlisted service, American Campaign medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign medal, World War 2 Victory medal, Japan Occupation medal, National Defense medal, Korean Service medal with three stars, and UN Korea medal. His ribbons also include the Philippine Liberation, Navy Marine Corps Presidential Citation and Korea Presidential Unit Citation bars.
This group was purchased on ebay in 2007; having been originally purchased in Pensecola in 2003. Provenance: the group was found in Pensecola where Baxter died and the seller had a high school medal named to Baxter which another buyer got. The parts of this group that are named are the H&H boxes that are named to Baxter (see photo}.
