Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a gorgeous Croix de Guerre Certificate named to Private Fred B. Gruver, a Marine who was Missing in Action from July 18th, 1918 in Vierzy, France, and was never found. A Chauchat Gunner, Gruver was cited in the Marine Corps Muster Rolls for “showing great coolness and bravery in the trenches in the Bois de Bellleau, June 13th and 14th, 1918. During enemy machine gun attacks, repairing broken Chauchat rifles and keeping them in condition.”

Fred B. Gruver enlisted in the Marine Corps with his brother Harry on April 16th, 1917. He went overseas with the 18th Company, 5th Regiment and saw combat in the legendary Battle of Belleau Wood as well as Soissons, where he went missing.

On July 18th, the first day of the Aisne-Marne Offensive, Gruver was missing in action. This likely devastated his brother who spent a lot of time searching for him. Despite muster rolls listing him for the months of August and September, he was finally pronounced as Killed in Action and was never found.

The Croix de Guerre certificate was sent to Gruver’s mother, Nellie R. Parker, who the shipping tube is addressed to. Parker sailed to France in 1931 as a Gold Star Mother to view Fred's resting place.

The certificate measures roughly 18 x 22”, and is rolled up in the original shipping tube, which is 16¾” long. It could do well with some proper framing, and would look great displayed with the original tube sent to his grieving mother.

This is a fantastic piece of Marine Corps history named to one of the Marines who never made it home, because he was never found. As he was never found, this certificate is one of very few surviving items referencing Gruver. Comes ready for further research and display.

The Battle of Belleau Wood

In March 1918, with nearly 50 additional divisions freed by the Russian surrender on the Eastern Front, the German Army launched a series of attacks on the Western Front, hoping to defeat the Allies before U.S. forces could be fully deployed. A third offensive launched in May against the French between Soissons and Reims, known as the Third Battle of the Aisne, saw the Germans reach the north bank of the Marne River at Château-Thierry, 59 miles from Paris, on 27 May. On 31 May, the 7th Machine Gun Battalion of the U.S. 3rd Division supported the Senegalese Tirailleurs in holding the German advance at Château-Thierry, in hard house-to-house fighting, and the German advance turned right towards Vaux and Belleau Wood.

On 1 June, Château-Thierry and Vaux fell, and German troops moved into Belleau Wood. The U.S. 2nd Infantry Division—which included a brigade of U.S. Marines—was brought up along the Paris-Metz highway. The 9th Infantry Regiment was placed between the highway and the Marne, while the 6th Marine Regiment was deployed to their left. The 5th Marine and 23rd Infantry regiments were placed in reserve.

On the evening of 1 June, German forces punched a hole in the French lines to the left of the Marines' position. In response, the U.S. reserve—consisting of the 23rd Infantry Regiment under Colonel Paul B. Malone, the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines under Major Julius S. Turrill, and an element of the Marine 6th Machine Gun Battalion—conducted a forced march over 10 km (6.2 mi) to plug the gap in the line, which they achieved by dawn. By the night of 2 June, the U.S. forces held a 20 kilometers (12 mi) front line north of the Paris-Metz Highway running through grain fields and scattered woods, from Triangle Farm west to Lucy and then north to Hill 142. The German line opposite ran from Vaux to Bouresches to Belleau.

On the night of 4 June, the intelligence officer for the 6th Marines, Lieutenant William A. Eddy, and two men stole through German lines to gather information about German forces. They gathered valuable information showing the Germans were consolidating machine gun positions and bringing in artillery. While this activity indicated an attack was not immediately likely, their increasing strength was creating a base of attack that raised concern about them breaking through to Paris.

At 17:00 on 6 June, the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines (3/5)—commanded by Major Benjamin S. Berry—and the 3rd Battalion 6th Marines (3/6)—commanded by Major Berton W. Sibley, on their right—advanced from the west into Belleau Wood as part of the second phase of the Allied offensive. Again, the Marines had to advance through a waist-high wheat field into machine gun fire. One of the most famous quotations in Marine Corps history came during the initial step-off for the battle when First Sergeant Dan Daly, a recipient of two Medals of Honor who had served in the Philippines, Santo Domingo, Haiti, Peking, and Vera Cruz, prompted his men of the 73rd Machine Gun Company forward with the words: "Come on, you sons of bitches. Do you want to live forever?"

The first waves of Marines—advancing in well-disciplined lines—were slaughtered; Major Berry was wounded in the forearm during the advance. On his right, the Marines of Major Sibley's 3/6 Battalion swept into the southern end of Belleau Wood and encountered heavy machine gun fire, sharpshooters, and barbed wire. Marines and German infantrymen were soon engaged in hand-to-hand fighting. The casualties sustained on this day were the highest in Marine Corps history up to that time. Some 31 officers and 1,056 men of the Marine brigade were casualties. However, the Marines now had a foothold in Belleau Wood.