Bonagura, Michael John, Sr., Cpl

Deceased
 
 Service Photo 
 Service Details
107 kb
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Last Rank
Corporal
Last Primary MOS
0311-Rifleman
Last MOSGroup
Infantry
Primary Unit
1945-1945, 0311, Marine Barracks Bayonne, NJ
Service Years
1941 - 1945
Official/Unofficial USMC Certificates
Golden Dragon Certificate
Shellback Certificate
Enlisted Collar Insignia
Corporal
One Hash Mark

 Last Photo 
 Personal Details 

235 kb


Home State
New Jersey
New Jersey
Year of Birth
1923
 
This Military Service Page was created/owned by Sgt Edson Franklin Bellis to remember Marine Cpl Michael John Bonagura, Sr..

If you knew or served with this Marine and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
 
Contact Info
Home Town
Belleville
Last Address
Belleville
Date of Passing
Mar 31, 1993
 

 Official Badges 

French Fourragere WW II Honorable Discharge Pin US Marines Corps Honorable Discharge


 Unofficial Badges 

Order of the Golden Dragon Shellback




 Additional Information
Last Known Activity:

My father was a Marine Raider on Guadalcanal. He was in the 1st Marine Division. I know from his records that he started out in the 5th Marines, 2nd Battalion, but somehow he wound up in the Raiders, notice the Raider patch he's wearing in the picture. The details of that story, like so many others, I never fully understood. He enlisted in June of 1940, before Pearl Harbor, as he was always fond of telling me. Somehow that distinction mattered to him.  The Old Breed versus all the guys who enlisted after December 7, 1941, a few months seemed to make all the difference, though in the end they were all called The Old Breed. In fact Michael had dropped out of school after finishing tenth grade at Belleville High in New Jersey. He altered his birth date on his birth certificate and forged his mother's signature on a parental consent form so he could enlist at 16. Over the years he always talked a lot about the Marines and not much about the war. All I knew about his war experiences, traits that carried over onto his life with his family, were that he hated rain, nighttime, and almost anything Japanese. But he loved the Marine Corps, and he was a good fit as a Marine. He told me he would have made a career out of the Marines had he not suffered so acutely from Malaria. Recruit training was easy for him (as a tenth grader he played semi-pro football on Sundays for the Newark Bears!). The food in the Marines was good and there was plenty of it, and he got to travel and see places he'd never otherwise have seen all over the United States, Cuba, New Zealand, Samoa, the South Pacific islands, Australia, California, the Pacific Northwest and probably many other places I don't even know about. He brought more than just memories home from the Pacific. He suffered terribly from PTSD for the rest of his life after the war and that's a long time when you go into battle at 17. He died of service-connected disabilities at 69, his father lived to be 96, so I guess dad hoped he'd live a long life, but it wasn't to be. He lived longer than a lot of other Guadalcanal vets though.


His son, Marc Bonagura

   
Other Comments:

Burial:
Saint Peters Churchyard
Belleville, Essex County
New Jersey, USA

   
 Photo Album   (More...



World War II/American Theater
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
September / 1945

Description
Defense of American Interests and American property and territories.
   
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
September / 1945
 
Last Updated:
Mar 16, 2020
   
Personal Memories
   
Units Participated in Operation

1st Bn, 1st Marines (1/1)

10th Marines

1st Combat Engineer Bn (CEB)

2nd Bn, 7th Marines (2/7)

3rd Bn, 2nd Marines (3/2)

USS PRESIDENT JACKSON (T-AP-18)

MARDET USS Los Angeles (CA-135)

VMB-443

MCSD Barstow CA

MARDET USS Houston (CA-30)

USS Mount Vernon (AP-22)

USS Wharton (AP-7)

MARDET USS SACRAMENTO (PG-19)

Mardet NAB Argentia, Newfoundland

MARDET USS Midway (CVA-41)

MARDET USS Bremerton (CA-130)

 
My Photos From This Battle or Operation
No Available Photos

  6178 Also There at This Battle:
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