This is an officially engraved (pantograph style) posthumous Purple Heart with presentation case and shipping box to Pvt. Jose C. Martinez who was KIA as part of the 119th Infantry in Germany November 5, 1944. One of the oddities of this group is that Martinez's serial number cannot be found on the NARA website, yet accompanying the medal is his complete Individual Deceased Personnel File that confirms the serial number.
Although the 30th Infantry Division was not involved in the actual invasion of Normandy, the 30th served valiantly at St. LO and at Mortain in France; it was the first infantry division to enter Belgium and The Netherlands. The 30th was also instrumental in breaching the Siegfried Line in October 1944, and the capture of Aachen, Germany, the 1st large German city to be captured by the Allies in WWII. It would have been near Aachen that Martinez was killed.
SOLD to a collector 04-2021
