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Wake Island: P. O. W. Archive Including Handmade American Flag Pieced Together While a Prisoner. . ...
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Sold on Dec 8, 2025 for:
$6,250.00
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Description
Emblem of Courage, Resistance and Patriotism
Wake Island: P. O. W. Archive Including Handmade American Flag
Pieced Together While a Prisoner.32" x 16" x 13" wood and steel foot locker marked 5th L. A. C. D. U. (stenciled lettering) on both ends and two identical indistinct markings on the lid. It houses the personal effects of Sgt. Andrew J. Paszkiewicz (born 1899), a career soldier. He served in WWI and WWII, being taken prisoner at Wake Island. The Japanese attacked Wake Island concurrently with the attack on Pearl Harbor. The battle ended on December 23, 1941 when the garrison was forced to surrender to overwhelming forces. They managed to inflict significant losses on the invaders, making a courageous stand which inspired a Hollywood film dramatizing their exploits, earning the moniker "The Alamo of the Pacific." Civilian prisoners were used for slave labor. Ninety-eight of them were executed when the prisoners were transferred to camps in occupied China. Five were executed during the resulting sea voyage. Paszkiewicz's mother was a seamstress who passed the skill onto her son. When the allies parachuted foodstuffs, clothing and supplies to the camp (using cotton, canopy-style chutes), he surreptitiously fashioned an American flag, inspiring morale, but risking execution if discovered.
He is listed in the "Marine Detachment" contained in the book "The Story of Wake Island" by Colonel James P. S. Devereux. He also is mentioned in "Last Man Off Wake Island" by Lt. Col. Walter L. J. Baylor. Both books are included. Quote from Baylor's book: "The master technical sergeants, Andrew J. Paskiewicz and Curtis P. King, had mustered their details at the stirring of 'Call to Arms' and rushed them to the field... Sergeant Paskiewicz, of San Diego, Cal., was among the seven wounded whom I helped carry off the field. He caught a spurt of machine-gun bullets in his arms and legs, and looked to me to be pretty badly hurt. However, before I left the island I saw him in the hospital; he was getting around on crutches, his face already pale from confinement, but he was in good spirits..."
The highlight of the lot is the aforementioned pieced-together flag, preserved as a valuable keepsake. Here is a summary of the contents:
1. 45" x 25" flag made from supply parachutes. Forty-eight stars hand-sewn onto each side of the canton. Canvas-hoist with rope insert. 4 1/2" rip on bottom, small rip in upper right corner.
2. Burial flag.
3. 3" x 4 1/4" leather-bound "Spherical Balloon Pilot" license dated May 18, 1925, signed by Orville Wright and B. Russell Shaw.
4. 3" x 4 1/2" leather bound "Naval Aviation Pilot" certificate designating Gunnery Sergeant Paszkiewicz as a "Balloon Pilot", dated February 9, 1927. Separation to front & back components. Missing back leather panel. Front leather panel is loose.
5. Lot of five "Aviators Flight Log Books" used by Paszkiewicz from 1923 to 1935.
6. Leather binder with contents used by Paszkiewicz when working as an aircraft inspector at Cherry Point, North Carolina, until 1965.
7. Soft-cloth bound "Rigid Airship Manual" published by the Navy in 1927. Some damage to covers.
8. Royal Naval Air Service "Hydrogen Manual" published in 1916 with titled boards.
9. Wool-covered military canteen by Rider & Bell of Sydney. Regulation khaki-wool Marine Corps visor cap. Khaki wool overseas cap designated "The Fortress Model". Khaki-wool "soft cap" with quatrefoil trim on top. Khaki-wool cap with circular ring insert. Canvas belt with brass hardware.
10. Two framed photos of Paszkiewicz (circa 1917 and 1930), plus assorted photos of cadets and soldiers (framed and not framed) from the 1910-1920 period.
11. Assorted military documents (discharge papers, re-enlistment papers), newspaper clippings about the names of Wake Island POWs), family photos, correspondence, a box containing Marine Corps uniform buttons and enamel badges, a pile of newspapers (complete and not), mostly dating from WWII, but with one example from WWI, a Victory Medal and shoulder patch from a family member who died in the Great War.
12. Book "The Story of Wake Island" by Colonel James P. S. Devereux.
13. Book "Last Man Off Wake Island" by Lt. Col. Walter L. J. Baylor.
The list is not inclusive. The correspondence includes several family names, but we believe they are all members of the same family and were therefore kept together. The consignor received the archive from Paszkiewicz's niece who provided an oral history.
Auction Info
2025 December 8 Arms & Armor, Civil War & Militaria Signature® Auction #6325 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2025
8th
Monday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 1
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 700
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% of the successful bid per lot.
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