Yesterday, the DPAA announced that PFC John Wilson Hoffman, Jr., of Houston, Texas has been accounted for as of 9 April 2020. Read their press release here.
Hoffman was born in the little town of Lott, Texas on 23 July 1922. When he was little, his family – parents J. W. and Sadie Hoffman, plus older siblings Orvil, Lorena, and Marie – moved to Houston, where John Junior grew up and attended school. He graduated from Stephen F. Austin High with the class of 1940, and went to work for the Lindle Air Products Company as a shipping clerk.
In August of 1942, the twenty-year-old Hoffman enlisted in the Marine Corps at a Houston recruiting office. He finished boot camp that October, and was assigned to the First Battalion, 18th Marines – the engineering regiment of the 2nd Marine Division. After a brief training and organizational period at Camp Elliott, California, the 18th shipped out for New Zealand and eventually arrived at Camp Paekakariki.
While the 18th Marines were not slated to join the ongoing battle for Guadalcanal, the 6th Marines was gearing up and needed extra men to fill their ranks. In mid-December, several dozen engineers – including Private Hoffman – were transferred to the 6th Marines. Hoffman was assigned to a squad in Company L, but was not with them for long. On the afternoon of 20 December, his NCOs noticed that Hoffman was missing. When the 6th Marines sailed for the Solomon Islands, Hoffman was declared a “straggler.” He was not seen again until 7 January 1943, when he surrendered at Wellington’s Central Park Police Station.
When L/3/6 returned from Guadalcanal in late February 1943, Private Hoffman was waiting at Camp Russell – one can imagine the cold reception he received from the combat veterans. He was restricted to camp as the rest of his company enjoyed furloughs in town during the month of March, and in April was belatedly court-martialled for missing his ship. The sentence was heavy – thirty days confinement on bread and water and forfeiting $15 out of his pay for three months – but had the desired effect. Once out of the brig, Hoffman stayed out of trouble and applied himself to his training. His change was so dramatic that he even earned a promotion to Private First Class, which ordinarily might have been delayed due to his disciplinary infractions. When the time came to ship out for the next operation, PFC Hoffman was present and ready to join his buddies in battle.
John Hoffman lost his life in the battle of Tarawa on 23 November 1943. The exact circumstances aren’t known; his company was in reserve during a banzai attack that hit 1/6 in the early morning hours, and then relieved the tired front-line troops for the final mopping up of the sector. At some point during the action, Hoffman was shot in the chest and died of his wounds. His body was carried over to a burial trench and laid down with nearly thirty other members of the 6th Marines. The survivors marked the graves as best they could, but in the months and years following the battle, the gravesite was lost. In 1949, all the men buried there – including PFC Hoffman – were declared non-recoverable.
In 2019, a History Flight expedition uncovered “Row D” and brought the remains back to the United States for laboratory analysis. Hoffman was identified on 9 April 2020 and has now been officially accounted for.
Welcome home, PFC Hoffman. Semper Fi.
We are actively seeking information for PFC Hoffman’s profile page.
Are you a family member or former comrade of this Marine? Do you have stories or photos to share? Please contact MissingMarines and help us tell his story.