Private First Class

Private First Class

Private First Class is a military rank held by junior enlisted persons.- Singapore :The rank of Private First Class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of Private and Lance-Corporal . It is usually held by conscript soldiers midway through their national service term...

 Ralph Anthony "Iggy" Ignatowski (April 8, 1926 - between March 4, and March 7, 1945) was a U.S. Marine

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 who was captured, torture

Torture

Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

d, and killed by Japanese troops during the Battle of Iwo Jima

Battle of Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...

.

He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

 to Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

-born Walter Ignatowski and a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 mother, the former Frances Thomas. His best friend was Iwo Jima flag raiser

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is a historic photograph taken on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal. It depicts five United States Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.The photograph was extremely...

 John Bradley

John Bradley (Iwo Jima)

John Henry "Jack" "Doc" Bradley was a United States Navy corpsman during World War II, and one of the six men who took part in raising the Flag on Iwo Jima...

.

Entry into the Marine Corps

Ignatowski failed his physical when he first tried to enlist in the Marine Corps in 1943. However, he tried again, taking a friend's urine with him and this time passed the physical. After training, he was assigned to Company E, 2d Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, with future Iwo Jima flag raisers Ira Hayes

Ira Hayes

Ira Hamilton Hayes was a Pima Native American and an American Marine who was one of the six men immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during World War II. Hayes was an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community in Sacaton, Arizona, and enlisted in the Marine...

, Jack Bradley, Rene Gagnon

Rene Gagnon

Rene Arthur Gagnon was one of the U.S. Marines immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's famous World War II photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.-Early life:...

, Franklin Sousley

Franklin Sousley

Franklin Runyon Sousley was one of the six men in the famous photograph of United States Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima in World War II.-Childhood:...

, Harlon Block

Harlon Block

Harlon Henry Block was a United States Marine during World War II. Born in Texas, Block joined the Marine Corps in November 1943 and subsequently saw action during the Battle of Bougainville and the Battle of Iwo Jima where he was killed in action...

, and Michael Strank

Michael Strank

Michael Strank was a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He was photographed raising the flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. The leader of the group in the famous picture was Strank, who got the order to climb Mt. Suribachi to lay telephone wire...

.

Service record

According to military records, Ignatowski was at sea aboard the USS Missoula

USS Missoula (APA-211)

USS Missoula was a Haskell-class attack transport built and used by the US Navy in World War II. She was a Victory ship design, VC2-S-AP5. She was named after Missoula County, Montana, USA. She was the second ship to bear the name ....

 on February 5, 1945, and arrived at Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

 on February 7. Ignatowski was at sea again from February 8 to 10, and disembarked at Saipan

Saipan

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

, Marianas Islands, on February 11. He then boarded LST-481 and sailed to Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...

 from February 11 to 18. On February 19, 1945, Ignatowski and Easy Company arrived at Iwo Jima.

Regimental records indicate that Ignatowski was wounded in the jaw by shrapnel on February 20, 1945, but returned to duty the same day. During the battle, on March 4, 1945, Ignatowski was captured, tortured and murdered along with another Marine, Second Lieutenant Leonard Sokol. Their bodies were discovered on March 7, 1945. The following entries from the 28th Marine Regiment records describe the timeline of their deaths:

• Mar 4, 1845 hrs - Fr LT228 - One P.F.C. from Easy Co, name unknown, believed captured by Japs in vicinity of Hill 215.

• Mar 4, 2030 hrs - Fr LT228 - Lt. Sokol was killed at 1330 at 233 X and body taken by Nips - No maps or shackle codes known to be on his person according to Capt Severance.

• Mar 4, 2100 hrs - Fr LT 228 - All quiet - Easy Co reports Japs were definitely seen grabbing man into cave near where Lt. Sokol's body disappeared.

• Mar 7, 1900 hrs - Fr. LT228 - Body of captured PFC from "E" Co (Ignatowski) had apparently been searched (pack emptied) and tortured - arm broken, body beaten. Location 450 yds north of tip of Hill 362. Forward and left of E Co's present CP - Lt. Sokol's body nearby mutilated by one of our own flame throwers.

• Mar 7, 1940 hrs - Fr D2 - Corps requests written statements from men in "E" Co who saw Ignatowsky captured.

• Mar 8, 0855 hrs - Fr 5th Div. Red Cross - Request details on capture of PFC Ignatowsky "E" Co. Call Mr. Thomas c/o Columbus #1

• Mar 8, 1010 hrs - Fr LT228 - Ignatowski body evacuated with Lt. Sokol's. En route, via Regt.

• Mar 8, 1150 hrs - To D2 - Requested Regimental ARC representative and Regimental Surgeon examine body of P.F.C. Ignatowski and prepare affidavits.

• Mar 9, 1154 hrs - Fr D2 - Requests detail re Ignatowski and statements: a. Circumstances of capture b. Events intervening between capture and recovery. c. Circumstances of recovery of body.

Death

During the Battle of Iwo Jima

Battle of Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...

, Ignatowski was taken prisoner by Japanese troops. He was subsequently tortured and executed.

Ignatowski's death is referenced in several books:

• In his book Semper Chai!: Marines of Blue and White (and Red) about Jews in the U.S. Marine Corps, author Howard J. Leavitt collected eyewitness reports regarding the actual circumstances of Ignatowski and Sokol's deaths, including a letter to the surviving members of the family of Lieutenant Sokol by fellow Marine James Buchanan:

"On March 3, Private Ralph Ignatowski was somehow dragged into a cave within a small canyon. What I tell you next is what I heard but did not see. He may have tried to rescue Ignatowski, but I don’t know for sure.”

“I walked into the canyon and found Lieutenant Sokol on a road, Ralph Ignatowski close behind. An officer approached me and said, 'Don’t touch them. We may have an atrocity here.’ I understand Ralph had been bayoneted numerous times; some punctures bled, some did not.”

• Ignatowski's death is also mentioned in the book Flags of Our Fathers
  Flags of Our Fathers
  Flags of Our Fathers is a New York Times bestselling book by James Bradley with Ron Powers about the five United States Marines and one United States Navy Corpsman who would eventually be made famous by Joe Rosenthal's lauded photograph of the flag raising at Iwo Jima, one of the costliest and...
  
  , coauthored by the son of flag raiser John Bradley
  John Bradley (Iwo Jima)
  John Henry "Jack" "Doc" Bradley was a United States Navy corpsman during World War II, and one of the six men who took part in raising the Flag on Iwo Jima...
  
  . The following are his recollections of Ignatowski's death:

"I have tried so hard to block this out. To forget it. We could choose a buddy to go in with. My buddy was a guy from Milwaukee. We were pinned down in one area. Someone elsewhere fell injured and I ran to help out, and when I came back my buddy was gone. I couldn’t figure out where he was. I could see all around, but he wasn’t there. And nobody knew where he was.

A few days later someone yelled that they’d found him. They called me over because I was a corpsman. The Japanese had pulled him underground and tortured him. His fingernails... his tongue... It was terrible. I’ve tried hard to forget all this."

Many years later, in researching my father’s life, I asked Cliff Langley, Doc’s co-corpsman, about the discovery of Iggy’s body. Langley told me it looked to him as though Ralph Ignatowski had endured just about every variety of physical cruelty imaginable.

"Both his arms were fractured," Langley said. "They just hung there there like arms on a broken doll. He had been bayoneted repeatedly. The back of his head had been smashed in."

Other eyewitness reports further indicated that Ignatowski had been tortured in the cave by the Japanese for three days, during which time they also cut out his eyes, cut off his ears, smashed in his teeth, and cut off his genitalia.

Legacy

Ignatowski was awarded the Purple Heart

Purple Heart

The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...

 with Gold Star

Gold Star

The Gold Star medal is a special insignia that identifies recipients of the title "Hero" in the Soviet Union and its communist allies, and several post-Soviet states.-Soviet origin:...

, Presidential Unit Citation

Presidential Unit Citation (US)

The Presidential Unit Citation, originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the Armed Forces of the United States and allies for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy on or after 7 December 1941...

 with Star, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal

The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal is a service decoration of the Second World War which was awarded to any member of the United States military who served in the Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945 and was created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was...

, and the World War II Victory Medal

World War II Victory Medal

The World War II Victory Medal is a decoration of the United States military which was created by an act of Congress in July 1945. The decoration commemorates military service during World War II and is awarded to any member of the United States military, including members of the armed forces of...

.

His remains were initially interred with military honors in Grave 1201, Row 11, Plot 5, Fifth Marine Division Cemetery, Iwo Jima; in 1949 Ignatowski's body was exhumed and reinterred at the Rock Island, Illinois

Rock Island, Illinois

Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...

 National Military Cemetery.

The AMVETS

AMVETS

AMVETS or American Veterans is a volunteer-led organization formed by World War II veterans which accepts honorably discharged veterans as members....

 Ralph A. Ignatowski Memorial Post 60, Oak Creek, Wisconsin, was officially dedicated on Sunday, June 3, 1956.

Ignatowski appears in the 2006 Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood

Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...

 movie Flags of Our Fathers

Flags of Our Fathers (film)

is a 2006 American war film directed, co-produced and scored by Clint Eastwood and written by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis. It is based on the book of the same name written by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the Battle of Iwo Jima, the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who were involved...

, which is based on the book of the same title

Flags of Our Fathers

Flags of Our Fathers is a New York Times bestselling book by James Bradley with Ron Powers about the five United States Marines and one United States Navy Corpsman who would eventually be made famous by Joe Rosenthal's lauded photograph of the flag raising at Iwo Jima, one of the costliest and...

, and includes scenes of Bradley's search for Ignatowski. He is played by English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 actor Jamie Bell

Jamie Bell

Andrew James Matfin "Jamie" Bell is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Billy Elliot , King Kong , Hallam Foe , Jumper , Defiance , The Eagle and The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn .- Early life :Bell was born in Billingham, in the Borough of...

, and is seen in the opening scenes at Iwo Jima. In the movie Ignatowski's corpse is found, but its condition is only alluded to. The viewer never sees the body. During the film, Bradley constantly asks, "Where is he?" as he flashbacks to the battle and his search for his friend.