Gordon Wiborg USMC
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Gordon Leslie Wiborg USMC (1914 - 1980)

Sergeant Gordon Leslie Wiborg USMC
Born in Madelia, Watonwan County, Minnesotamap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of [private wife (1910s - 1980s)]
Died at age 66 in Idahomap [uncertain]
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Profile last modified | Created 31 Jan 2015
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Sergeant Gordon Wiborg USMC served in the United States Marine Corps in World War II
Service started: Jan 1934
Unit(s): Company F
Service ended: March 1946

Contents

Biography

Obituary

The Coeur d'Alene Press carried the following obituary in 1980[1]:

"Gordon L. Wiborg
"Funeral Services for Gordon L. Wiborg were held at Trinity Lutheran Church, Couer d' Alene, Idaho, recently, with Pastor James Johnson officiating. Burial was at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis.

"Gordon was born in Riverdale Township, the youngest child of Fred and Carrie Wiborg. After graduation from Madelia high school, he joined the Marine Corps, serving in the battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian.

"After discharge from the service, he worked for the U.S. Postal Service, the last 25 years being at the Minneapolis post office.

"In 1977 he retired to Athol, Idaho.

"He is survived by the widow, a daughter, Mrs. Jim Leinbaugh of Couer d' Alene, a son, Gordon, of Fairmont, two grandchildren, a brother, Jules of Long Beach, California, and a sister, Lila, Mrs. Siver Helling of rural Hanska. "

Gene Setrum's summary

Gordon L. Wiborg (1914-1980) - excerpted from a work by Gene Setrum[2]:

"Gordon L. Wiborg was born on 11 Mar 1914 to Fredrick and Carrie (Nelson) Wiborg in Riverdale Township, Watonwan County, Minnesota.

"Gordon grew up on the family farm and graduated from Madelia High School. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Marines Corps. He fought in the battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa serving as a gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps.

"After his discharge from the service, Gordon worked for the U.S. Postal Service. The last 25 years he worked in the Minneapolis Post Office.

"Gordon Married Theresa (Terry) Hermann (born 02 Dec 1918) of Los Angeles, California....

"In 1977 Gordon retired to Athol, Idaho. He died 24 Dec 1980. Services were held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho with his burial in Fort, Snelling National Cemetery, Hennepin County,, Minnesota. Gordon was 66 years old....

"His wife Terry died on 12 Feb 1986 and was also buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery."


Military Service

Private First Class Gordon Wiborg, USMC taken in 1935 before the Second World War on the farm where he grew up. The qualification badge on his far left breast denotes Sharp Shooter (Sharp shooters were paid more during the Second World War). The other bar shows qualification badges for other weapons.


Recollection by Gordon Wiborg, Jr.:
"My Father, Gordon Leslie Wiborg Sr., born 1914, died 1980, served in the United States Marine Corps from 1932 to 1945. He was a USMC Drill Instructor, and deployed to the Pacific Theater in 1942 with the 2nd Marine Division.

"As a Gunnery Sergeant (E-7), he was highly decorated during the Pacific campaigns, receiving a Silver Star for single-handedly taking out an enemy machine-gun nest on Tarawa Atoll in November, 1943. Even more telling from the citation of his actions was the fact that he was, hours before, shot through and through in the HEAD, piercing his helmet for both entry and exit wounds and gravely wounding him, as he led his LST full of Marines debarking in eight feet of Pacific Ocean water.

"He continued to lead his platoon of Marines through the 3-day battle, refusing Corpsmen assistance until the few remaining Japanese surrendered."

Sergeant Gordon Wiborg, USMC taken during the Second World War.


Gordon L Wiborg served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps[3]:

  • Jan 1934 - First appears on U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls
  • Dec 1937 - Private First Class - Base Headquarters Company, Base Service Battalion, Bt, Mcb, San Diego, California
  • Jan 1938 - Reenlisted
  • Jun 1938 - Corporal - General Service Unit, 11th Reserve District, Mcb, San Diego, California
  • Oct 1941 - Sergeant - Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, Fmf, Camp Elliott, San Diego, Calif.
  • Jan 1941 - Sergeant - Company "F" 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Brigade, Fmf, In The Field
  • Apr 1942 - Platoon Sergeant - Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine brigade, - first Marine Regiment deployed into the Pacific - Reinforced defense of Tutuila, American Samoa
  • Jul 1942 - Platoon Sergeant - Company "F", 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Brigade, Reinforced, In The Field.
  • Oct 1942 - Company "E", Second Battalion, Eighth Marines, Reinforced, USS Barnett, At Sea (The USS Barnet transported the 2nd battalion, 8th Marines from Tonga to Guadalcanal in late October 1942.)
  • 14 Sept 1942 – 9 February 1943 - Battle of Guadalcanal ( The 8th Marines won its first Presidential Unit Citation at Guadalcanal leading the assault on the beaches. )
  • In New Zealand, the 8th Marines spent several months refitting for the Battle of Tarawa.
  • Oct 1943 - Gunnery Sergeant - Second Battalion, Eighth Marines, Second Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, In The Field
  • Nov 1943 - The 2nd Battalion, Eighth Marines under the command of Maj. Henry P. Crowe was in the first wave to assault Red Beach 3 in the Battle of Tarawa (Wounded In Action; awarded Silver Star & the 8th Marine Regiment received its second Presidential Unit Citation. Company E's point of attack was the airport, which was defended by 3 Japanese fortifications. Five of Company E's six officers were killed in the first 10 minutes of the assault & the company sustained 50 percent casualties getting ashore and swarming over the seawall to seize a precarious foothold.[4])
  • After refitting in Hawaii, the 8th Marines sailed for the Marianas, where they led the assault on the beaches of Saipan and Tinian, capturing key bases for the air war against Japan (Among other uses, Tinian's airfield was used for the fire bombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.)
  • Apr 1944 - Second Battalion, Eighth Marines, Second Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, In The Field
  • 15 June–9 July 1944 - Battle of Saipan
  • Jul 1944 - 2d Bn, 8th Mar Div, FMF, In The Field
  • 24 July – 1 August 1944 Battle of Tinian
  • 1 April – 22 June 1945 - Battle of Okinawa
  • Sep 1945 - Japanese surrendered - 2d Bn, 8th Mar Div to Nagasaki, Japan to participate in occupation of Japan (Note: Nagasaki was one of two cities which were devastated by an atom bomb)
  • Feb 1946 - 2d Bn, 8th Mar Div withdrawn from Japan
  • March 26, 1946 - 2d Bn, 8th Mar Div, deactivated

He is buried with his wife at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, South Minneapolis, Minnesota.[5][6]

Other data

Gordon was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Madelia, Minnesota on 2 September 1928. That record includes his birth date as 11 March 1914,[7]

Images

DNA

Anonymous Wiborg & Jim Wiborg have been DNA matched by Ancestery.com as first cousins with 754 centimorgans shared across 28 DNA segments confirming they share grandparents.

The record shows that Anonymous Wiborg and Jim Wiborg are both descendants of Frederick Wiborg & Carrie (Nelson) Wiborg through paternal lines. This confirms through DNA that Frederick & Carrie are grandparents of Jim. It also confirms that Gordon Wiborg is Anonymous' father.


Sources

  1. Coeur d'Alene Press, Obituaries, December, 1980
  2. Image:Wiborg-10-1.pdf DESCENDANTS OF OLE F. & GJODA WIBORG by: Gene Setrum; ~2010
  3. See U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls
  4. Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa by Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret)
  5. Find A Grave: Memorial #3516461
  6. Fort Snelling National Cemetery, National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator. https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/ or https://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/ftsnelling.asp
  7. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940 (available as scanned copies on Ancestry.com)




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It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Gordon by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree: It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Gordon:

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Comments: 2

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Please correct the category for Gordon to the one already in place:

Category: 8th Marine Regiment, United States Marine Corps, World War II

The unit categories are not set up to include battalions, companies, etc. Thanks very much.

Natalie, Categorization Project

posted by Natalie (Durbin) Trott
Sergeant in the prefix is misspelled (Sargent instead of sergeant). Could you fix please? Thanks, your friendly neighborhood data_doctor!

(Check out the data_doctor project for more info or to get involved!)

posted by Mel Green