Quentin Weldon McCall

Quentin was born in Jefferson County, Mississippi, on 13 August 1920, the youngest of eight children raised by James “JT” and Effie (Flowers) McCall. He spent almost his entire life in the community of Union Church; his parents ran a farm, and Quentin’s early days were spent helping out with chores. He attended school in Union Church, and gained local notice as a member of the Jefferson County Agricultural High School football team. In a shutout game against Woodrow Wilson High, Quentin was “a main cog in the Jefferson machinery” and scored a “spectacular” 45-yard touchdown.

After earning his diploma, Quentin went out to find work. His military paperwork indicates he spent some time working in construction, however he listed his best occupation as “student” – and when he registered for Selective Service in 1942, he was unemployed. Searching for a vocation may have influenced his decision to enlist in the Marine Corps – not as a reserve, but as a regular to serve a minimum term of four years.

On 7 May 1942, McCall entered a recruiting station in Jackson, Mississippi and enlisted in the Marine Corps. He was soon on his way to San Diego for boot camp, where he proved to be a good recruit and more than capable with firearms. By the end of training, Private McCall was authorized to wear the insignia of a rifle sharpshooter and a pistol expert, plus a qualification badge for the bayonet.

After a brief period of mess duty at San Diego, McCall was assigned to Item Company, Third Battalion, 6th Marines – the unit with which he would spend the rest of his life. He left the United States on 19 October 1942 and sailed for New Zealand, arriving in mid-November. After a few weeks in Wellington, McCall again boarded a transport – the USS President Adams – and spent Christmas aboard before departing for the Solomon Islands. He experienced his first combat on Guadalcanal in early 1943, and earned a promotion to Private First Class for his participation in the battle. McCall returned to New Zealand on the President Adams, and spent the next several months recuperating, training, and enjoying the occasional liberty in Wellington.

In October 1943, McCall – now a corporal, having earned another promotion during the summer of 1943 – departed Camp Russell and marched to the Wellington docks, preparing to head into combat once again. His company embarked on the USS Harris and, after sitting at anchor for several frustrating days, finally set sail for the Gilbert Islands and Operation GALVANIC.

As the reserve regiment for the 2nd Marine Division, Corporal McCall’s 6th Marines did not participate in the initial assault landings of the battle for Tarawa. On the night of 21 November, however, the First and Third Battalions boated ashore and landed on Green Beach, the westernmost point of Betio. Their advance along Betio’s southern shore began the next morning, with First Battalion in the lead and Third in support. A Japanese counterattack on the night of 22 November dealt heavy casualties to 1/6, and so 3/6 took the lead on 23 November.

This would be the last day of Quentin’s life. According to a letter received by his family, Corporal McCall was providing covering fire for six fellow Marines caught in a desperate situation. The six managed to escape – but McCall fell, shot through the head and instantly killed. He was one of four Item Company Marines to lose his life on Betio, along with Gunnery Sergeant Arthur B. Summers, PFC Alvin O. Waller, and Private Frank C. Kriss.

Shortly after his death, Corporal McCall was buried in a mass grave alongside some thirty other members of his regiment – including Gunny Summers. His burial was reported as #5, Row D, East Division Cemetery; individual markers of scrap wood and mess gear were placed at the head of each individual, and the remains covered with sand.

Unfortunately, “Row D” was destroyed in the months following the battle. The naval air base built up around the captured airfield expanded quickly, and cemetery markers were moved to make way for new construction. A cross with Corporal McCall’s name went up in Memorial Cemetery 33 (Plot 2, Row 1, Grave 16) – but this was known to be a memorial only. McCall’s body was still in Row D, and the site could not be found by post-war searches.


Quentin McCall was declared permanently non-recoverable in 1949.

Seventy years later, the non-profit group History Flight found Row D and more than thirty Marines, still lying where they were buried in 1943. Quentin McCall was among them; thanks to circumstantial evidence and DNA testing, he was positively identified and accounted for on 29 September 2019.

CENOTAPHS
Honolulu Memorial, Tablets of the Missing

FINAL BURIAL
Mississippi Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Newton, MS