Donald J. Coffey

NAME Donald James Coffey				NICKNAME Don				MCSN 353706
HOME OF RECORD 730 Westmoreland Avenue, Lansing, MI				NEXT OF KIN Mother, Mrs. Juanita Coffey
DATE OF BIRTH 1919		DATE OF ENLISTMENT January 7, 1942					DATE OF LOSS September 14, 1942
REGION Solomons	CAMPAIGN / AREA Guadalcanal / Bloody Ridge		CASUALTY TYPE Killed in Action			UNIT A/1st Raider Battalion			DUTY Sniper
CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS On 13 September 1942, Captain John Antonelli’s Company A, 1st Raider Battalion made a combat patrol to the positions occupied by their comrades in Company C the night before. They found the area occupied by a large force of Japanese troops and, after a brief firefight, disengaged and withdrew back to Bloody Ridge. PFC Donald J. Coffey, a Raider sharpshooter, was covering the retreat when he was shot several times in the back; “he was dead before he hit the jungle floor,” said a fellow Raider. He was the only casualty of the patrol. Private Coffey’s body, if it was later recovered, was never identified. He was reported dead as of 14 September 1942.
INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Purple Heart					LAST KNOWN RANK Private First Class
STATUS OF REMAINS Not recovered.					MEMORIALS Manila American Cemetery