Original Items: One-Of-A-Kind. Staff Sergeant Edmund L. Cramp (ASN6562452) enlisted on July 17, 1939 out of San Francisco, California and was assigned to Company K of the 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, U.S. Army. He departed America on October 24, 1942 for the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign.

He fought in the following campaigns: Algeria-French Morocco, Sicilian and Tunisian Campaigns, Rome-Arno and Naples Foggia Campaigns and the Southern France Campaign, Anzio Campaign and the Rhineland.

In Italy, on the morning of February 16, 1944, when one of his company’s platoons were overrun by the Germans near Anzio, Staff Sergeant Cramp took action. He crawled and ran 50 or more yards forward through enemy artillery and mortar fire to a friendly machine gun position, from which he knelt and began firing his rifle at the enemy 150 yards away. Although German Artillery and Mortar shells bursted as close as 10 yards from him, fragments barely missing his head, and enemy machine gun and rifle fire impacted the dirt inches from him, Staff Sergeant Cramp continued to fire his rifle at the enemy. Noticing a German only 25 yards from him and about to throw a grenade at his position, Cramp shot the soldier so swiftly that the grenade exploded in his hand, killing him. Because of his quick reaction, he was able to not only live but save the Machine Gun position. Due to his actions on this day he was awarded the Silver Star Medal.

Staff Sergeant Cramp continued to fight in various locations of Europe throughout the war. He would end up earning a Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart for wounds sustained in May of 1944 during the Anzio Campaign.

This grouping consists of the following:
- 36L Ike Jacket: The jacket is in lovely condition and features a beautiful 3rd Infantry Division patch on the left shoulder. The ribbons displayed on the left side are the Silver Star,Purple Heart, Good Conduct, American Defense and the EAME with 3 bronze Stars, 1 Silver star and 1 arrowhead. Above the ribbon stack is the Combat Infantryman Badge with his Marksmanship badge below the stack. On the left shoulder is the French Fourragere awarded to the unit for actions during WWI. Also on the left shoulder are his original dog tags attached to the shoulder strap. 30th Infantry Regimental Distinctive Unit Insignias are present on both sides of the lower lapel. The right side has the Ruptured Duck and the Presidential Unit Citation with two clusters.

- Name Engraved Bronze Star Medal with Ribbon, Lapel Device and Presentation Box: Engraved on the back as Edmund L. Cramp

- Name Engraved Silver Star Medal With Box: The reverse is engraved Edmund L. Cramp in a beautiful script.

- Unmarked or Engraved Purple Heart Replacement Medal

- 5 Loose Medals: American Defense Medal with Foreign Service Bar, Good Conduct, American Campaign, EAME with 3 bronze stars 1 silver star and 1 arrowhead, WWII Victory Medal.

- x2 3rd Infantry Division Patches: 1 is a printed silk type material and the other is the standard heavy duty cotton thread.

- Research: This binder is packed full of information and copies of documents. There are enlistment records, discharge copies, hospital records, stories and more!

This is truly a lovely grouping that comes ready to research and be displayed!

Battle of Anzio
The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944 (ending with the capture of Rome). The operation was opposed by German forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno.

The operation was initially commanded by Major General John P. Lucas, of the U.S. Army, commanding U.S. VI Corps with the intention being to outflank German forces at the Winter Line and enable an attack on Rome.

The success of an amphibious landing at that location, in a basin consisting substantially of reclaimed marshland and surrounded by mountains, depended on the element of surprise and the swiftness with which the invaders could build up strength and move inland relative to the reaction time and strength of the defenders. Any delay could result in the occupation of the mountains by the defenders and the consequent entrapment of the invaders. Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, commander of the U.S. Fifth Army, understood that risk, but he did not pass on his appreciation of the situation to his subordinate Lucas,[citation needed] who preferred to take time to entrench against an expected counterattack. The initial landing achieved complete surprise with no opposition and a jeep patrol even made it as far as the outskirts of Rome. However, Lucas, who had little confidence in the operation as planned, failed to capitalize on the element of surprise and delayed his advance until he judged his position was sufficiently consolidated and he had sufficient strength.

While Lucas consolidated, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, the German commander in the Italian theater, moved every unit he could spare into a defensive ring around the beachhead. His artillery units had a clear view of every Allied position. The Germans also stopped the drainage pumps and flooded the reclaimed marsh with salt water, planning to entrap the Allies and destroy them by epidemic. For weeks a rain of shells fell on the beach, the marsh, the harbor, and on anything else observable from the hills, with little distinction between forward and rear positions.

After a month of heavy but inconclusive fighting, Lucas was relieved and sent home. His replacement was Major General Lucian Truscott, who had previously commanded the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division. The Allies broke out in May. But, instead of striking inland to cut lines of communication of the German Tenth Army's units fighting at Monte Cassino, Truscott, on Clark's orders, reluctantly turned his forces north-west towards Rome, which was captured on June 4, 1944. As a result, the forces of the German Tenth Army fighting at Cassino were able to withdraw and rejoin the rest of Kesselring's forces north of Rome, regroup, and make a fighting withdrawal to his next major prepared defensive position on the Gothic Line.