Joe Markowitz has carried shrapnel in his skull for 64 years. Last week, he finally got a Purple Heart to carry on his chest.
Markowitz was a sergeant 1st class in the U.S. Marines in 1942 when he was injured in the Battle of Santa Cruz in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He was a Fleet Marine Gunner in the 5-inch anti-aircraft gun battery below the flight deck on the USS Enterprise, which was stationed in the Pearl Harbor-Midway Islands area. He was at his post when the injury occurred. He still does not know exactly where the fragments originated.
“It was either a piece of shrapnel or a 7.7 slug from the dive bomber coming down,” Markowitz said. “The bomb that he dropped hit about 30 feet behind my gun battery. Or, it could be from his machine gun.”
In any case, the shrapnel pierced his helmet and entered his scalp, where it remains today.
Markowitz was neither troubled nor surprised that he did not receive a Purple Heart initially for his injury. When he finally was to be released from Marines service in 1947, doctors found that his lungs carried a “slight showing of tuberculosis” and he was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago to be examined. There, he was asked to sign a paper that he released the government from all responsibility for his health.
“When I was in the hospital, I was given the option of signing or not signing the letter,” Markowitz said. “Naturally, after six years of service time, I was wanting to get home and get back to work, so I did sign the letter that I was not going to hold the government responsible.”
He was discharged, a corporal by that time, with paperwork showing that he had no health issues that derived from service in the military. All that Markowitz cared about was returning to his pre-military life. When he arrived in Emporia, he stopped at the old Haynes Hardware store to re-stock his toolbox so he could return to being a carpenter.
“And I went back to work on Monday morning,” he said.
He put military life behind him, never taking advantage of benefits offered to veterans, and went on to build a family life with his wife, Marie, and their four children.
The helmet he’d worn on the ship found a home on a closet shelf, shunned by Marie Markowitz because of the uneasy memories it evoked. When officials later asked that it be donated for display on the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, which has been turned into a museum, neither minded parting with the helmet. It remains in the museum with other memorabilia from the Enterprise, which was the most-decorated ship of World War II.
“The fiber liner inside was torn up pretty bad, and there was still blood in there,” he said.
His children and grandchildren, however, wanted him to have what he deserved and began gathering information about Markowitz’s injury to submit as proof he had earned a Purple Heart.
Markowitz had a photograph of himself holding the helmet that appeared in the Seattle Times during an Enterprise reunion in the 1950s. The photo became part of the evidence.
Loren Pennington, former history professor at Emporia State University, interviewed Markowitz about his memories of the battle and the injury. And a daughter in Colorado, Lisa Morrison, tracked down shipmates who knew about the incident and would be able to substantiate the facts. Her daughter, Sarah Morrison of Topeka, helped with the project.
With assistance from former Olpe resident John Fladung, whose job is working with veterans, they managed to accomplish their goal within about two months, Markowitz said.
The arrival of the Purple Heart and its accompanying award certificate was a pleasant surprise for Markowitz, who’d realized the difficulties the Morrisons could encounter in their quest.
At least half of the people Markowitz served with at the time no longer are available to be questioned, and he counts himself lucky that his health is good and, at 84 1/2 years old, he continues to work steadily as a carpenter.
“I’ve got a lot more living to do, and I’ve got myself committed to at least 12 years more of that. I work every day except Sunday,” Markowitz said, before amending the statement slightly.
“Momma will allow me to work on things for her and the kids and grandkids,” he said.
But those woodworking pieces are done for love of family and that, to Markowitz, is more important than money or medals.
• Markowitz and Pennington will be speakers at a World War II seminar scheduled March 29 in Plumb Hall at Emporia State University.