James William Beecher
Corporal James W. “Jim” Beecher served with Baker Company, 2nd Raider Battalion (Carlson’s Raiders).
He was reported missing in action during the Makin Island Raid on 17-18 August 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 299268
Current Status
Remains not recovered.
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
August 6, 1919
at Appling County, GA
Parents
Shelton Beecher
Jenny (Tapley) Beecher (d. 1919)
Stepmother, Maude McCall Beecher
Education
Grammar school
Occupation & Employer
Truck driver
Civilian Conservation Corps
Service Life
Entered Service
October 15, 1940
at Macon, GA
Home Of Record
Baxley, GA
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. Shelton Beecher
Military Specialty
Raider
Campaigns Served
Makin Island Raid
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
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Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Before dawn on 17 August 1942, two companies of the 2nd Raider Battalion disembarked from a pair of submarines, boarded rubber boats, and paddled ashore on Makin Island. The specially-trained Marines and their commander, Lt. Col. Evans Carlson, expected a rapid sweep along the island and a quick rout of the 65-man Japanese garrison. Unfortunately, the Americans landed in disorder and a clumsy Raider accidentally fired his weapon, alerting the defenders to the danger. Short but sharp firefights developed, with the Japanese alternately attacking head-on or allowing Raiders to walk into ambushes.
Although the Raiders inflicted serious harm on the defenders, the unexpectedly difficult fighting and the arrival of Japanese aircraft convinced Carlson to break contact and attempt to withdraw to his submarines. This complicated feat took until the evening of 18 August, and meant that the Raiders were unable to evacuate or bury their dead. After the battle, they reported eighteen men confirmed killed in action, and an additional twelve missing.
One of those missing was Corporal Jim Beecher, an NCO from rural Georgia. Ben Carson, a Baker Company Raider who survived the war, recalled that “Beecher was with us early in the evening of August 17 but had moved down the perimeter southward before [2330 hours].” This was the last confirmed sighting of Beecher; he was ultimately declared dead on 19 August 1943.
Burial Information or Disposition
Upon returning to Hawaii after the raid, Carlson’s unit held a roll call and asked anyone with information about the dead or missing to speak up. Raider Dean Winters told a gruesome tale of towing a boat through the surf with another Raider. “After they had passed the breakers, Winters heard the other Raider scream ‘Shark!’ and nothing more,” notes Oscar Peatross. “Winters suggests that the other Raider might have been Private William E. Pallesen, but Pallesen was known to be a non-swimmer which would eliminate him as a possibility in this case.” (Pallesen was captured and executed by the Japanese in October 1942.)
In November-December 1999, a team from Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI, a predecessor of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency) arrived on Butaritari to exhume a mass grave dating to 1942. They recovered and individually identified the remains of nineteen Marines killed during the raid. This effort, combined with the post-war knowledge that nine other Raiders were captured and executed on Kwajalein, leaves only two men unaccounted for from Makin itself: Private Cletus Smith and Corporal Beecher.
In Forgotten Raiders of ’42: The Fate of the Marines Left Behind on Makin, author Tripp Wiles writes that “one Raider claims to have witnessed Beecher’s body in the ocean, apparently mauled by sharks.” The Raider cited is Ben Carson, speaking in 2000.
Decorations
Purple Heart
For wounds resulting in his death, 18 August 1942.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. Shelton Beecher.
Location Of Loss
Beecher was last seen near the beach at Makin Island, now Butaritari.
