Arvil Ray Sharp
Private Arvil R. Sharp served with Fox Company, Second Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 501509
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
February 19, 1919
at Pine Grove, WV
Parents
Edward Eskey Sharp (d. 1943)
(divorced)
Delphia (Lemasters) Sharp
Education
Through grammar school
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Mill worker
Wheeling Steel Corporation
Service Life
Entered Service
November 26, 1942
at Cleveland, OH
Home Of Record
236 Lincoln Avenue
Mingo Junction, OH
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Delphia Sharp
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
F/2/2nd Marines
Campaigns Served
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
(only if relevant and short)
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Private Arvil Sharp served with Fox Company, 2nd Marines during the Tarawa campaign. On 20 November 1943, his battalion was assigned the task of spearheading the assault on Betio’s Red Beach Two. Fox Company would land on the eastern half of the beach, fight their way inland, and help secure a vital airfield. If all went according to plan, they would walk ashore standing up and have the situation in hand by evening.
Unfortunately, the plan went right out the window in the first few minutes of the assault. Extremely heavy Japanese fire tore into the amphibian tractors carrying the Marines ashore; many of the vehicles never even reached the beach. The 2nd Marines suffered an astonishing number of casualties in moments; they managed to secure a toehold on the beach, but facing withering firepower, few managed to get over the sea wall and into the Japanese defenses beyond.
Private Sharp was one of nineteen Fox Company Marines to lose his life on the first day of the battle; he died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
Burial Information or Disposition
On 22 November, Private Sharp’s body was reportedly buried in “Beach Red Cemetery #2” (also known as “Central Division Cemetery”), Row A, Grave 17. This location was later “beautified” by Navy garrison forces, and a memorial built on top of the graves – which required knocking down the original markers. The reconstructed “Cemetery 26” included a white cross for PFC Glowacz (Grave 6, Row 1, Plot 5), but this bore no relation to where his remains were actually buried.
The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company exhumed the bodies buried in this cemetery late in 1946, but were unable to identify many of the men they found. Today, Arvil Sharp may be buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific – or his remains may still lie on Betio itself.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Delphia Sharp.
Location Of Loss
Private Sharp was killed in the vicinity of Betio’s Beach Red 2.
