Bernard Elmer Shealy
Warrant Officer Bernard E. Shealy served with Headquarters Company, Second Amphibian Tractor Battalion.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number O-15743
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
February 10, 1918
at Little Mountain, SC
Parents
Asa Henry “Ace” Shealy
Olive Roberta “Ollie” Shealy
Education
High school graduate
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
US Rubber Company
Fairfield, SC
Service Life
Entered Service
April 15, 1941 (reenlisted)
April 5, 1943 (commissioned)
Home Of Record
38 Olive Mill Road
Santa Barbara, CA
Next Of Kin
Wife, Mrs. Anne Renner Shealy
Military Specialty
Amphibian Tractor Officer
Platoon Leader
Primary Unit
HQ/2nd Amphtrac Bn.
Campaigns Served
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
Shealy served his first hitch in the Marine Corps from 12 March 1935 – 11 March 1939. His duty stations included the battleship USS Arizona.
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Warrant Officer Bernard Shealy served as a platoon leader in the 2nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion. As one of the most seasoned men in the outfit, he was respected by enlisted men and fellow officers alike. “A real smart guy,” said 1Lt. Norman Ward, “[who had] been in the Marine Corps a long time. Took me under his wing.” Ward was glad to have Shealy in his tractor section – especially on 20 November 1943, as they carried troops of 3/2nd Marines into the assault of Betio’s Beach Red One.
The Japanese defenders took a heavy toll on the slow-moving “Alligators,” and Ward lost all six of his vehicles in short order. He managed to get ashore, where the displaced tractor crewman joined up with the assault troops. “We were all infantry,” he said. The lieutenant found some cover; as struggled to get his bearings, Warrant Officer Shealy arrived to coordinate a plan of action. Ward happened to have a photograph of Betio taken by a submarine, which he unrolled on the sand and held flat with his knees. The officers huddled together
Shealy was right here, leaning right here, on me. He was looking at [the photograph] and he just.... He caught a bullet, and both his eyes blew out and they were going up and down like a yo-yo. His face was right here, because I had both knees in the sand [keeping the photo from rolling up]. He was dead right then.
Shealy’s cause of death was reported as “gunshot wounds, temple.” He received a posthumous Bronze Star Medal for valor in the invasion of Betio.
Burial Information or Disposition
Shealy’s body was found and buried after the battle, but sources disagree on the exact location of his grave.
In March 1944, a Navy photographer snapped a picture of a grave marker bearing Shealy’s name and an epitaph from his buddies. The location wasn’t included in the caption – simply “Naval Aviation Base Hawkins’ Field,” as the base on Betio was called. However, the base of a wooden structure appears in the background – an observation tower, which is also visible in pictures of “Cemetery 13.”
Also visible in the photograph is a great deal of trash. Later in 1944, the scattered burial grounds were “beautified” and consolidated. Shealy’s epitaph was taken down, and his name appeared on a plaque beside a massive memorial cross at Cemetery 13.
Shealy’s Marine Corps casualty card, however, reports quite specifically that the warrant officer was buried in the “East Division Cemetery” – also known as Cemetery 33 – in Row C, Grave #21. Both of these cemeteries were exhumed by the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company in 1946, but Shealy’s remains were not among those identified.
There is a strong possibility that Bernard Shealy is one of the Tarawa unknowns buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of wife, Mrs. Anne R. Shealy.
Location Of Loss
Warrant Officer Shealy was killed in action near Betio’s Beach Red One.
