William Francis Buchman
HA2c William F. Buchman served with How Company, Second Battalion, 1st Marines.
He was killed in action at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 7 August 1942.
Branch
United States Navy Regular
Service Number 224 00 14
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
August 25, 1923
at Bronx, NY
Parents
Joseph Buchman
Mary A. (Lester) Buchman
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
December 19, 1940
at New York, NY
Home Of Record
102 East 176th Street
Bronx, NY
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. Joseph Buchman
Military Specialty
Corpsman
Primary Unit
H/2/1st Marines
Campaigns Served
Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
Buchman served with the New York National Guard under a false date of birth; he was discharged as underage on the same day he enlisted in the US Navy.
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Hospital Apprentice William Buchman was a Navy corpsman assigned to the Second Battalion, 1st Marines for the Guadalcanal campaign. He was attached to his battalion’s Company H.
On the night of 7 August 1942, the first night ashore, Buchman was assigned to guard duty at his battalion’s position. The Americans were nervous and apprehensive, and when Buchman shouted a challenge at fellow Marine, he was shot in the chest. Buchman died of his wounds within minutes – the first American to die on the island of Guadalcanal.
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.
Burial Information or Disposition
“Buried in the hills with no record of location of grave.”
Memorials
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Buchman was portrayed as “Corpsman Lewis” in Episode One of The Pacific.
The role was played by Brynn Loosemore.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. Joseph Buchman.
Location Of Loss
Buchman was killed in action at his battalion’s night positions near Guadalcanal’s Red Beach.
