Ambrose Iziah Rice

PFC Ambrose I. Rice served with Fox Company, Second Battalion, 1st Marines.
He was killed in action at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 14 September 1942.

Branch

Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 353549

Current Status

Remains Not Recovered

Pursuit Category

The DPAA has not publicized this information.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth

April 17, 1915
at Indianapolis, IN

Parents

Ambrose Rice
Margaret (Lawlor) Rice

Education

Central High School (1934)
Notre Dame (ex-1938)

Occupation & Employer

Motor truck blockman
International Harvester

Service Life

Entered Service

January 5, 1942
at Detroit, MI

Home Of Record

1407 East LaSalle Street
South Bend, IN

Next Of Kin

Father, Mr. Ambrose RIce

Military Specialty

—

Primary Unit

F/2/1st Marines

Campaigns Served

Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal

Individual Decorations

Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

—

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

The sector held by the Second Battalion, 1st Marines was relatively quiet on 14 September 1942. On previous nights, strong Japanese attacks hit the lines of 3/1st Marines and the reinforced Raider line up on Edson’s Ridge. While those units rested and tended to their wounded by day, others mounted combat patrols to discover where the Japanese might be hiding in the jungle.

PFC Ambrose I. Rice was reported as killed in action by gunshot wounds during the day’s action. The exact circumstances of his loss are not known.

Burial Information or Disposition

According to his Marine Corps casualty card, PFC Rice was buried at coordinates “68.117–65.114, Map D-2-101, Guadalcanal.” Unfortunately, those coordinates do not create an intersecting point – instead, they span an area of approximately 9,000 square yards, half of which is water.

When the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company searched for remains on Guadalcanal after the war, they noted “no burial information available” for PFC Rice and made only a general area search. His grave was never found.