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Mervin Earl Beckett

Private Mervin E. Beckett served with Battery P, Fifth Battalion, 11th Marines.
He was killed in action at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 14 October 1942.

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

Branch

Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 327025

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

Current Status

Remains Not Recovered

Pursuit Category

The DPAA has not publicized this information.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth

April 15, 1924
at Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Parents

William Alexander Beckett
Wilhelmina Frances (Wise) Beckett

Education

Details unknown

Occupation & Employer

Details unknown

Service Life

Entered Service

October 20, 1941
at Detroit, MI

Home Of Record

535 Rosewood Avenue
Pontiac, MI

Next Of Kin

Father, Mr. William A. Beckett

Military Specialty

Primary Unit

P/5/11th Marines

Campaigns Served

Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal

Individual Decorations

Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

On the night of 13-14 October 1942, Japanese battleships Kongo and Haruna cruised along the north coast of Guadalcanal, flinging shells at Henderson Field.  The area around the airfield was saturated with shrapnel; even the deepest dugouts collapsed under the impact of the massive 14-inch projectiles. The artillerymen of Fifth Battalion, 11th Marines were particularly hard hit at 0230 when naval shells landed in their camp area. Eleven Marines died of shrapnel wounds or the effects of blast concussion.

Eighteen-year-old Private Mervin Earl Beckett was one of those killed in the bombardment.

Burial Information or Disposition
Excerpt from the muster roll of P/5/11th Marines, October 1942.

When daylight broke over Guadalcanal, the dead were brought to the First Marine Division Cemetery near Henderson Field. Aviators, infantrymen, pilots, and artillerists were buried in Rows 29 through 32. Private Beckett was reportedly interred in Grave 7, Row 31.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, the remains initially buried as Beckett’s were declared unidentifiable after the war, and re-designated as Unknown X-347. In a rather unusual turn, neither the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) nor the X-file provide any information regarding the decision. Beckett’s casualty card notes that his family expected to receive his body – and made arrangements with a local funeral home – only to be disappointed; this indicates that the Central Identification Laboratory in Honolulu (CILH) issued the decision. Their reasoning is unknown at this time.

Unknown X-347 is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Section D, Grave 344.

Next Of Kin Address

Address of father, Mr. William Beckett

Location Of Loss

Beckett was killed and buried in the vicinity of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal.

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