Arthur Dale Toros
PFC Arthur D. Toros served with Baker Company, First Battalion, 8th Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 22 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 310337
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
August 2, 1922
at Winnipeg, Manitoba
Parents
Adolph Torossi (d. 1940)
Marie (Pomeranski) Toros
later Marie Freeze
Education
Champaign High School (1940)
Occupation & Employer
Champaign Country Club
Service Life
Entered Service
June 16, 1941
at Chicago, IL
Home Of Record
111½ North 6th Street
Springfield, IL
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Marie P. Freeze
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
B/1/8th Marines
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
Toros enlisted with school buddy Herschel “Skee” Wilsky, later known as the “one-man army” of Guadalcanal.
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
PFC Arthur Toros served with Company B, First Battalion, 8th Marines in the Guadalcanal campaign and during the battle for Tarawa.
At midday on 20 November 1943, BLT 1-8 climbed over the sides of their transport ships and boarded LCVPs in Tarawa lagoon. They anticipated imminent landing orders, but due to the desperate situation on the beach were held offshore in their little boats, bobbing in the waves for the rest of the day and a very long night. Early on 21 November, they were ordered to land on Betio’s Beach Red 2.
At 0615, the first waves of 1-8 rushed down the ramps and into the breaking surf on a coral reef some 500 yards from shore. Although friendly troops held the water’s edge, they “immediately came under heavy machine gun fire from both flanks.” The battalion was decimated on the long walk to shore. An action report penned by the 8th Marines noted that “many of the casualties resulted from drowning, due to the heavy packs and equipment men attempted to take across the submerged fringing reef.”
PFC Toros survived the brutal landing, but unfortunately did not live to see the end of the battle. He was killed in action on 22 November 1943; while his death was confirmed by company officers, no eyewitness accounts are known to exist.
Burial Information or Disposition
“In Division Cemetery, grave unknown.” Also listed as “body not recovered.”
A memorial marker was erected in Cemetery 11, Plot 5, Row 1, Grave 5
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Marie P. Freeze.
Location Of Loss
PFC Toros landed in the vicinity of Beach Red 2, Betio. He was killed at an unknown location on the island.
