WO Walter Dressler Kniffin
Photo: Miami Herald March 17, 1945 Page 12-A
Here's the information I've been able to compile thus far. Note that anything that is either speculative or not properly sourced will be in italics. Warrant Officer Walter D. Kniffin, USMC was attached to the 5th Motor Transport Battalion, 5th Marine Division. Owner of the Kniffin Transfer Co, he came to Miami in 1925 (presumably from New York, listed as his place of origin.) He was a former Miami Springs Police Chief and former Treasurer of the Dade County Police Chiefs Association. He was also a past Master of James Carnell Lodge 223, F. and A. M. (Free and Accepted Masons.) It is not clear when Kniffin joined the military or when he left for the Pacific. A June 15, 1941 Miami Herald article mentions him as a member of the Florida Defense Force, Company 21, under the leadership of William H. Peeples, Jr. This was nearly six months prior to U.S. entry into the war. Kniffin was lost on February 23, 1945; the fifth day of the battle for Iwo Jima in the Pacific during World War ii. You may know of the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Mt. Suribachi that inspired the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial - that flag raising happened the same day Walter was lost. He was 42. Kniffin was survived by his wife, Mrs. Mary Hamilton Kniffin, a daughter Mary, 16; and son Bill, 10. They lived at 509 Eastward Drive in Miami Springs. He is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Plot M, 868. Honolulu, Hawaii. It appears that the family remained in Miami Springs after Kniffin's death, the document portfolio on this page contains clippings with references to her leadership with the Miami Springs PTA and the Miami Springs American Legion Auxilliary, Unit 117. If you have photos, memorabilia, or further information regarding Walter or his family and their time in South Florida with the Kniffin Transfer Company, please let me know, you can email to springsobserver@gmail.com. |
Photograph courtesy of Louis Braithwaite Boone, www.geni.com/people/Walter-Kniffin/6000000007633804324
Raising the Flag on Mt. Suribachi -
U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, Arlington, VA. Photo by Adrian R. Rowan [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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