Robert Lee Liston
Private Robert L. “Bobby Lee” Liston served with Item Company, Third Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He was was mortally wounded at Tanambogo, Solomon Islands, and died on 9 August 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 348283
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
June 16, 1924
at South Fork, CO
Parents
Father unknown
Martha Arzellia Backlund (d. 1942)
Education
Harrington Junior High School
Occupation & Employer
Student
Service Life
Entered Service
January 13, 1942
at New Orleans, LA
Home Of Record
119 Park Street
Santa Fe, NM
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Arzellia Backlund
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
I/3/2nd Marines
Campaigns Served
Solomon Islands / Tanambogo
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Private Robert L. Liston served with Item Company, 2nd Marines during the Solomon Islands campaign.
On 8 August 1942, Liston’s company was assigned a pair of disagreeable tasks: complete mopping up snipers on the island of Gavutu, and then make an amphibious assault on the neighboring island of Tanambogo. With the support of two Marine tanks, naval gunfire, and a simultaneous attack by another company advancing down a causeway, Item Company had high hopes for success. The tiny Japanese garrison, however, resisted fiercely. Both tanks were knocked out, and the infantry also lot heavily – thirteen men from Item Company alone lost their lives in the attack.
Bobby Liston suffered shrapnel wounds in his spine at some point during the fight for Tanambogo. He held on until 1230 on 9 August 1942, then breathed his last. Liston was just eighteen year old.
Burial Information or Disposition
On 10 August 1942, the remains of Americans who fell on Gavutu-Tanambogo were carried to a rudimentary burial ground by Lever’s Store. Chaplain W. Wyeth Willard oversaw the digging of graves and the identification of the dead; he noted that Private Liston’s body was buried in Grave #13, and a white cross was placed at the appropriate spot.
However, there is no record of any remains being recovered from Grave #13 – the only such case in Gavutu’s small cemetery. Nor was Bobby Liston ever identified from among the unknowns recovered from the Solomon Islands. Exactly what became of his body is not known.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Arzellia Backlund.
Robert lived at this address before entering the service. His mother left Santa Fe in 1942, and died that year in California.
Location Of Loss
Private Liston was mortally wounded on Tanambogo.
