DOB/DOD: January 26, 1926 (Bridgeport, CT) – March 1, 1945; 19 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: 496 Madison Avenue, Bridgeport. The house is no longer there.
ENLISTMENT: January 10, 1944 in Springfield, Massachusetts
SERVICE NUMBER: 962691
UNIT: Company C, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 0604; Machine Gun Crewman
FAMILY: Born to Johann “John” (1890-1972) and Sophie Skieber Watcke (1888-1979), both born in Austria. Sixth born of seven children. Siblings are John (1910-1998), Henry (1912-1969), Joseph (1916-1996), Marie Watcke Nosal (1919-1995), Louis (1924-2006), and Albert (1928-2018). 1 Worked for Joseph Watcke in Bridgeport prior to the service. 3
CIRCUMSTANCES: Boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, in early 1944. Assigned to the 65th Replacement Battalion, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and then in October of 1944, the 4th Marine Division, 24th Marines, 1st Battalion, through the Battle of Iwo Jima. On January 22, 1945, Private Watcke fell asleep while on watch. He was sentenced to a loss of pay of $15 per month for two months. 4 Private Watcke was in the same company as PFC Lorrin Lane of Norwalk and Private Aldo Sorcinelli of New London. Private Sorcinelli and Private Lane died on the same day, and Private Watcke died 12 days prior.
From 1-24thmarines.com 2
From 1-24thmarines.com: In the shell hole, the gunners grabbed up empty ammunition belts, knotting the canvas ends together to make a lifeline. Ammo carriers broke open their boxes, sacrificing additional belts still filled with rounds. A Marine with a strong throwing arm whipped the makeshift rope around his head and flung it towards Jack Coutts; the throw was short. As he hauled in the line, they could see Coutts stretching out his hands for a next attempt that never came. Perhaps a talented Japanese spotter saw the scurry of activity around the shell hole and called the coordinates back to waiting gunners. Or maybe it was only dumb luck, a random shot that happened to strike home. A single heavy mortar shell whuffed down from above, burying itself in the soft sand for a split second before the pressure-sensitive nose detonated several pounds of high explosive right in the middle of the Marines. At least six men died in the blast. The former drill instructor, Sergeant Baldwin. The former football star, Otis Boxx. The teenage draftees, PFC Richard J. Miller, and Private Karl Watcke; the reformed brig rat, Harold Davis; and the brand-new replacement, Jim Parker, who braved open ground to get to his team. Not a single man in the hole escaped unwounded.
Letter to Karl Watcke’s parents dated March 30, 1945
My dear Mr. and Mrs. Watcke:
It is a source of profound regret to me and his comrades in the Marine Corps that your son, Private Karl Nickolas Watcke, United States Marine Corps Reserve, lost his life in action against the enemies of his country, and I wish to express my deepest sympathy to you and member of your family in your great loss. There is little I can say to lessen your grief, but it is my earnest hope that the knowledge of your son’s splendid record in the service and the through that he nobly gave his life in the performance of his duty may in some measure comfort you in this said hour.
Sincerely yours,
A.A. Vandergrift
Lieutenant General, U.S.M.C.,
Commandant of the Marine Corps
Letter to Karl Watcke’s parents dated April 30, 1945
My dear Mr. and Mrs. Watcke:
I am directed by the Commandant of the Marine Corps to inform you that you are entitled to the Purple Heart and the enclosed Purple Heart Certificate posthumously awarded your son, the late Private Karl N. Watcke, U.S. Marine Corps Reservice, in the name of the President of the United States and by the Secretary of the Navy. The Purple Heart, which is being engraved, will be forwarded to you within the next two months. You are also entitled to the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal for your son’s service in the Asiatic-Pacific Area. The medal will not be ready for issuance until six months after the war, and it is requested that you make an application to this office for the award at that time.
Sincerely yours,
A.E. O’Neill
Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps
Bassick High School Honor Roll in the 1946 yearbook.
Honored on the Trumbull Veterans Memorial, 38 Church Hill Road, Trumbull, Connecticut. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
Initially buried in the 4th Marine Division Cemetery on Iwo Jima, Grave 846, Row 17, Plot 1. At his father’s request, his remains were repatriated in 1948 and buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, 2205 Stratford Avenue, Stratford, Connecticut; Section 9, Lot 96S ½, Grave 4. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
1 – 1940 census https://www.ancestry.com/cs/1940-census
2 – https://1-24thmarines.com/personnel/karl-n-watcke/
3 – https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238
4 – USMC Muster Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1089/