Nickname(s) "Iggy" | Name Ralph Ignatowski Years of service 1943-1945 | |
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Birth name Ralph Anthony Ignatowski Born April 8, 1926Milwaukee, Wisconsin ( 1926-04-08 ) Died March 7, 1945, Iwo Jima, Japan Unit 2nd Battalion 28th Marines Battles and wars | ||
Ralph Anthony "Iggy" Ignatowski (April 8, 1926 – March 4–7, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps private who was captured and killed by the Japanese in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. He was a member of the Marine rifle company platoon that climbed to the top of Mount Suribachi and raised the American flag on February 23, 1945.
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Biography
Ralph Ignatowski was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Polish-born Walter Ignatowski and a German mother, the former Frances Thomas.
World War II
Ignatowski failed the physical examination when he first tried to enlist in the Marine Corps in 1943. However, he tried again, taking a friend's urine sample with him and this time passed the physical. In 1944, after "boot" camp training, he was assigned to 3rd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division.
He became a close friend with one of his platoon's Navy corpsmen, John "Doc" Bradley, who was with Ignatowski on the battlefield just before he was captured on Iwo Jima. For more than 70 years, Bradley was considered to be one of the six persons who raised the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi in Joe Rosenthal's photo Raising the flag on Iwo Jima when he was not (on June 23, 2016, the Marine Corps announced that John Bradley was not in the famous flag-raising photo); he was involved with helping to secure both the flag's flagstaffs put up on windy Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945.
Military records
Service record: Private Ignatowski was aboard the USS Missoula at sea on February 5, 1945, and arrived at Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands on February 7. Ignatowski was at sea again from February 8 to 10, and disembarked at Saipan, Marianas Islands, on February 11. Ignatowski boarded USS LST-481 and sailed to Iwo Jima from February 11 to 18. Ignatowski, E Company, 28th Marines, arrived at Iwo Jima on February 19. Ignatowski was wounded by shrapnel in the jaw on February 20, 1945 and returned to duty the same day.
28th Marine Regiment record: On March 4, 1945, Ignatowski was seen captured and taken into a cave by Japanese soldiers and about 2 hours later, the deceased body of Second Lieutenant Leonard Sokol (KIA) was taken away at same location by Japanese soldiers. On March 7, 1945, both their bodies were found. The following entries from the 28th Marine Regiment records describe the timeline of their deaths:
Death
Although the exact circumstances are uncertain, Ignatowski was taken prisoner by Japanese troops, tortured, killed, and then mutilated.
Ignatowski's death is referenced in several books:
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 skull. He had several wounds to his stomach, which had been repeatedly stabbed with a bayonet. As a final insult, his genitalia had been severed and stuffed into his mouth.
Burial
Ignatowski's remains were initially interred with military honors in Grave 1201, Row 11, Plot 5, 5th Marine Division Cemetery, Iwo Jima. In 1949, his body was exhumed and reinterred at the Rock Island National Cemetery in Illinois.
Military awards
Pvt. Ignatowski is entitled to the following military awards: