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Berent Louis Larson

Photo courtesy of Osbjorn Pearson.

Corporal Berent L. Larson served with Negate (N) Company, Fourth Marine Raider Battalion.
He was killed in action at Bairoko Harbor, New Georgia, on 20 July 1943.

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Branch

Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 468707

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Current Status

Remains Not Recovered

Pursuit Category

This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth

August 27, 1921
at Winner, SD

Parents

Albert Elias Larson (d. 1944)
Minnie Helen (Kaiser) Larson

Education

Bell High School (1939)

Occupation & Employer

American Concrete & Steel Company

Service Life

Entered Service

September 16, 1942
at Los Angeles, CA

Home Of Record

4914 Santa Ana Street
Bell, CA

Next Of Kin

Mother, Mrs. Minnie Larson

Military Specialty

Raider

Primary Unit

N/4th Raider Battalion

Campaigns Served

New Georgia

Individual Decorations

Silver Star*
Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

*Note: Larson's citation implies that he was killed in action on 1 July 1943. There is no apparent reason for this discrepancy.

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

Berent Larson served as an NCO with Company N, Fourth Marine Raider Battalion, during the New Georgia campaign. He distinguished himself during the fighting for Vura Village on 1 July 1943; although separated from his platoon and able to “exercise easily and safely his privilege of withdrawing with honor to find his unit,” he manned a machine gun to protect a fellow Marine and “refused to leave until he could take his comrade with him.” This feat of gallantry earned Larson a recommendation for the Silver Star Medal, and by 12 July his battalion was back at Guadalcanal, pleased with their success and believing their part in the fighting over. Six days later, however, they were disembarking from transports at Enogai Inlet, reinforcing the First Raider Battalion and preparing for an assault on the Japanese stronghold at Bairoko Habor.

The attack began on 20 July 1943. The First and Fourth Raider Battalions, advancing along the Enogai-Bairoko Trail, formed the northern wing of the assault, with 3/148th Infantry supporting along the Triri-Bairoko trail to the south. “Between the two trails was tangled jungle and vile swampland, which we all knew meant there would be no opportunity for fancy maneuvering,” recalled Raider Marlin Groft (B/1st Raider Battalion). “When we attacked Bairoko it would be a desperate, head-on frontal assault.” At 1015, the Raiders hit the first Japanese outposts and pushed through with grenades and bayonets – only to run headlong into an impassible main line of resistance. “A wall of lead came at us from Nambus firmly placed in nests chiseled into the hard coral,” Groft continued. “Our advance was brought to a halt…. If combat men ever experienced a Hell on Earth, this was it.”

Negate Company entered the fray at 1230, moving into position to attack the Japanese right flank with Peter Company. The assault got within 200 yards of the main defensive line and seized a small ridge, but the Raiders took heavy casualties in the process. Without any heavy weapons or supporting arms, they could not break through the line of enemy bunkers or counter the devastating mortar fire raining down. By 1700 hours, high casualties and fading daylight forced the Raiders to withdraw back to Enogai.

The “screwed up affair” of Bairoko was the worst defeat ever inflicted on a Raider unit; the 4th Raider Battalion alone suffered 127 wounded and 29 killed in action. Among the dead was Corporal Larson; unfortunately, no specifics of his fate are known.

Burial Information or Disposition

Most of the Raiders killed in action at Bairoko were left in the field; evacuating the wounded took priority. In the days that followed small American patrols ventured back to the battlefield to collect equipment and locate the fallen. They had some success, as noted in the 1st Raider Regiment’s war diary:

22 July 1943, 1200 – ENOGAI-BAIROKO patrol salvages communication gear, recovers some Blue [Amerian] dead, reports some Jap activity.
23 July 1943, 1200 – BAIROKO patrol buries 4 Marines, reports Jap activity.
24 July 1943, 1230 – BAIROKO patrol reports Jap defensive positions still manned, buries two dead Marines.

With Japanese troops active in the area, it was deemed to difficult and dangerous for a small patrol to carry remains back to Enogai, and thus they were buried in the field. More than a month would pass before a general retrieval and recovery effort could be made. Photographs of this process show Marines carrying blanket-wrapped bundles, suggesting an advanced state of decomposition. Individually identifying the dead would have been challenging, but was accomplished in most cases before burial in the Enogai cemetery. The dead Raiders were later moved from Enogai to the New Georgia
Cemetery, and finally to the Finschaffen cemetery complex in New Guinea.

Corporal Larson was reportedly buried along the Enogai-Bairoko Trail at “Coordinates 42.3-423.3, Hasty Terrain Map 102, Sheet B, New Georgia.” Three other Raiders – Private Carrol H. Allen (N), Private Everett Bryant (Q), and Sergeant Carl Phillips (P) – have the same notation, which may suggest that they were the group buried on 23 July.

While Allen and Phillips were located and identified, there is no further burial data for Corporal Larson or Private Bryant. They may have been recovered from the field and buried as unknowns, or may still lie somewhere near Bairoko on the Dragons Peninsula.

Next Of Kin Address

Address of mother, Mrs. Minnie Larson.
The is currently within the incorporated city of Cudahy, just south of Bell.

Location Of Loss

Corporal Larson was killed in action near Bairoko (Mbaeroko), New Georgia.

Gallery

Related Profiles

Marine Raiders non-recovered or recently identified from Bairoko Harbor.
Fourth Raider Battalion
First Raider Battalion
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