| NAME William Francis Buchman |
NICKNAME — |
SERVICE # 2240015 |
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| HOME OF RECORD 102 East 176th Street, Bronx, NY |
NEXT OF KIN Father, Mr. Joseph Buchman |
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| DATE OF BIRTH April 19, 1921 |
DATE OF ENLISTMENT 1941 |
DATE OF LOSS August 7, 1942 |
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| REGION Solomons |
CAMPAIGN / AREA Guadalcanal |
CASUALTY TYPE KIA |
UNIT H/2/1st Marines |
DUTY Corpsman |
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| CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS HA2c Buchman was attached to H Company, Second Battalion, 1st Marines during the landing on Guadalcanal. He was killed in a friendly fire incident by members of his own company during the first night on the island. |
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| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK Hospital Apprentice, Second Class |
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| STATUS OF REMAINS “Buried in the hills with no record of location of grave” |
MEMORIALS Manila American Cemetery |
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Note: Buchman was portrayed as “Corpsman Lewis” in Episode One of The Pacific. The role was played by Brynn Loosemore.
Biography:
Temporarily removed for editing and updating. Contact the webmaster for information on this Marine.
Once there came a burst of gunfire. It shattered the night. We leaned over our guns, mouths agape in the darkness. But then the night closed in again. Darkness. The trees dripping. The jungle whispering. No one came.
At dawn we learned the import of the gunfire. A medical corpsman had been killed. He had been shot by his own men.
When the sentry had challenged him as he returned from relieving himself, he had boggled over the password “Lilliputian” and so met death: eternity at the mercy of a liquid consonant.
I shall never forget the sad faces of the friends who buried him. In that dismal dawn, the scraping of their entrenching tools was as plaintive as the scratching of a mouse.
– Robert Leckie, Helmet For My Pillow
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