Ambrose Aloysius McDonald, Jr.
PFC Ambrose A. “Neil” McDonald served with Fox Company, Second Battalion, 8th Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 352273
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
October 2, 1919
at Pittsburgh, PA
Parents
Ambrose Aloysius McDonald, Sr.
Gertrude Anna (O’Neill) McDonald
Education
Cathedral Latin School (1937)
Occupation & Employer
Fischer Brothers Grocery Company
Service Life
Entered Service
January 12, 1942
at Cleveland, OH
Home Of Record
1594 East 93rd Street
Cleveland, OH
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Gertrude A. McDonald
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
F/2/8th Marines
Campaigns Served
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
PFC Ambrose McDonald served with Fox Company, 8th Marines during the battle for Tarawa.
The amphibious assault on Betio, Tarawa atoll – Operation GALVANIC – commenced on 20 November 1943. The Second Battalion 8th Marines was given the job of assaulting the easternmost of three landing beaches – “Red 3” – and, once ashore, moving inland to quickly secure the airfield that covered much of the tiny island’s surface. A heavy and morale-boosting naval bombardment convinced many Marines that the task would be a simple one, and spirits were high at 0900 when their amphibious tractors started paddling for the beach.
The Japanese were quick to recover. Shells began bursting over the LVTs. “As the tractors neared the shore the air filled with the smoke and fragments of shells fired from 3-inch guns,” notes A Brief History of the 8th Marines. “Fortunately, casualties had been light on the way to the beach, but once the men dismounted and struggled to get beyond the beach, battle losses increased dramatically.” Most of the beach defenses were still intact, and these were supported by row after row of pillboxes, rifle pits, and machine gun nests.
“Ambrose got in alright and did excellent work,” wrote Captain Martin F. Barrett. “I saw him about ten o’clock in the morning & he was fine, getting along swell. In the afternoon, I learned that he had been hit and died instantly. It was just around noon when he was hit by a Jap bullet and died instantly. No suffering, no pain, he really didn’t know what hit him.”
Read the full letter here.
Burial Information or Disposition
While the specifics of McDonald’s burial were not immediately known to his battalion – they noted him as “buried, grave unknown” as they did for scores of other Marines – precise burial information was provided later. According to documentation from Marine Corps Graves Registration, McDonald’s remains were interred in East Division Cemetery, Row B, Grave 21. This was the largest burial ground on Betio, located across the airfield from the beach where 2/8 landed on 20 November.
A few months after the battle, East Division Cemetery was “beautified” by Navy garrison troops in 1944 and renamed Cemetery 33. Original grave markers were torn down and replaced with hundreds of memorial crosses in landscaped plots. The effect was dramatic and considered a fitting tribute to the Marine fallen – but also obliterated any correlation between the markers and the identities of the men actually buried at the site. (McDonald’s marker stood in Plot 6, Row 2, Grave 10.)
When the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company arrived to exhume the battle casualties in 1946, they were dismayed to find empty sand beneath the markers. After several days of searching, they chanced upon Row B and began uncovering the original burials. Relying on dental charts and whatever personal effects they could find, the 604th attempted to identify as many men as possible, but were only partially successful. PFC McDonald’s remains were among those declared permanently unidentifiable.
The unknown remains of East Division Cemetery were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific until a DPAA directive disinterred them for additional laboratory analysis. Non-profit group History Flight has also conducted archaeological digs on Betio; their work at the East Division area resulted in several identifications, including Private Edwin W. Jordan, Private Charles A. Drew, and PFC Donald R. Tolson from F/2/8th Marines.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Gertrude McDonald.
Location Of Loss
McDonald’s battalion landed on and fought in the vicinity of Beach Red 3.
