12Mar1919 – 3Mar1945
Edison Days
Vincent graduated in the June Class of 1937. While at Edison he participated in Student Council and Bank Cashier. He was not pictured with either group in the Wizard yearbook.
Military Service
Branch: United States Army
Rank: Corporal
Unit: 164th Infantry Regiment – 23rd Infantry Division (Americal Division)
Vincent was drafted into the Army and reported to a selective service camp on 21Apr1941. He was sent overseas in early 1942 and spent several months training with his Regiment on New Caledonia.
The 164th Infantry Regiment landed on Guadalcanal on 13 October 1942 ahead of its brother regiments, as emergency reinforcement for the 1st Marine Division. The regiment was the first U.S. Army unit to engage in offensive action during World War II as part of the Battle of Guadalcanal. Between 24 and 27 October, elements of the regiment withstood repeated assaults from Japanese battalions and inflicted some two thousand enemy casualties; the 164th also supported and participated in Marine attacks. The First Marine Division’s commander, Major General A. A. Vandegrift, was so impressed by the soldiers’ stand that he issued a unit commendation to the regiment for having demonstrated “an overwhelming superiority over the enemy.”The 164th was then occasionally referred to as the ‘164th Marines’ due to their special relationship with the Marines on Guadalcanal.
Despite its ad hoc formation, the Americal Division fought well at Guadalcanal. The 164th Regiment took part in repulsing a major Japanese offensive in October 1942. Historians describe the Americal Division as the most effective of all the US Army divisions in that campaign.
The division next moved to the Fiji Islands, beginning 5Mar1943, to assume the defense of the main island of Viti Levu and to engage in extensive training.
During the period 25Dec1943 to 12Jan1944 the Americal Division landed on Bougainville, relieving the 3rd Marine Division.
Warned by intelligence, they met a massive and sustained Japanese counter-attack, which began on 7Mar1944. Despite ample warning and thorough defensive preparations, the battle soon degenerated into a bitter, close-quarters infantry affair, with artillery restricted by the need to avoid friendly troops and tanks unable to reach the scene. The 37th and Americal Divisions stood firm, and by 25 March, the Japanese were forced to retreat. It was the last Japanese ground offensive in the South Pacific.
The division went on the offensive in March 1944, driving the Japanese east of Mananga River, 7–9Apr1944, and seizing numerous strategic hill bases during the remainder of the month. Training and long-range patrol activity continued until 30Nov1944 when the division was relieved.
On 8Jan1945, the division began movement to Leyte and Samar in the Phillipiines to take part in cleaning out remaining Japanese forces on those islands. On 3Mar1945 Vincent was killed in action on Leyte, the circumstances of his death or unknown.
In 1949, Vincent’s remains were returned to the United States for reburial at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN.
This poem was written by a soldier on the 164th Infantry Regiment in honor of the Medics in the unit.
Edison Heroes 