PFC William Conklin entered the service from Georgetown, Kentucky. He had been in the Army Reserves at the time. His enlistment date is shown as December 14, 1942 at age 18. PFC Conklin's awards include Bronze Star with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters and Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. These posthumous officially engraved slot brooch medals are the centerpiece of this group. Other medals included are his un-named slot brooch Bronze Star, Victory medal, officially named Good Conduct medal, American Campaign medal, and Asiatic Pacific Campaign medals. Also included are the Bronze Star titled box, and posthumous medal shipping boxes for the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
PFC Conklin's final resting place is in the Honolulu Memorial burial grounds. A photo of the headstone and his IDPF accompanies this group.
The 96th Division landed in Okinawa in coordination with other divisions on April 1, 1945. They met little opposition. It was not until April 4 that they were orderded forward. Orders were received from Corps to attack south to seize Urasoe Mura hill. For this attack, the 381 RCT was held in reserve and the 382 and 383 regiments led the assault. The success of these regimenst was limited, and on April 10, a coordinated attack with all 3 regiments was launched against Kakuzo Ridge. It was during this attack that PFC Conklin was killed. The objective was not secured and on April 15, the 96th was relieved by elements of the 27th Division.
SOLD to a collector 04-2021
