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Lewis Robert Robarts

Corporal Lewis R. Robarts served with Dog Company, First Battalion, 5th Marines.
He was killed in action near Point Cruz, Guadalcanal, on 1 November 1942.

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Branch

Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 300801

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Current Status

Remains Not Recovered.

Pursuit Category

The DPAA has not publicized this information.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth

April 11, 1942
at Ocala, FL

Parents

George Robert Robarts (d. 1938)
Louise (Galipo) Robarts (d. 1933)

Education

Details unknown

Occupation & Employer

Details unknown

Service Life

Entered Service

November 1, 1940
at Savannah, GA

Home Of Record

Williston, FL

Next Of Kin

Sister, Mrs. Wilhelminia Rosier

Military Specialty

Machine Gunner
Squad Leader

Primary Unit

D/1/5th Marines

Campaigns Served

Guadalcanal

Individual Decorations

Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

On 1 November 1942, the 5th Marines opened the “Matanikau Offensive” by forcing their way across Guadalcanal’s Matanikau River. Their First Battalion crossed near the river’s mouth using footbridges built under cover of darkness, and began advancing west at 0630 hours. The first two hours passed without opposition – but the morning would not stay quiet for long.

At 0840, Charlie Company reported receiving machine gun fire from their front and right flank. Casualties mounted quickly as the Marines attempted to break through a well-camouflaged Japanese defensive line running through a ravine west of Point Cruz. Machine gun sections from Dog Company deployed to provide supporting fire, but quickly became targets themselves.

Minutes before the firing started, Corporal Anthony Casamento – a Dog Company section leader – assigned objectives to his two squads. One would head to the left of a small ridge, while the other hooked around to the right. Casamento stayed with the right-hand squad, under Corporal Lewis Robarts. They soon found themselves in enemy crosshairs. “We were at the head of the column and were cut off by very heavy fire coming from [Japanese] coral fortifications,” recalled the assistant gunner, Private Michael Ciavarelli. ” Our squad was surrounded completely by the enemy and we found ourselves under very heavy machine gun and mortar fire that the Japanese were laying down continuously.” In a matter of minutes, Robarts’ squad was cut to pieces.

Casamento was the only man capable of action.

It was awful. We're setting up this machine gun and the place is alive with Japanese. They're popping out everywhere. They had their guns all over the place, their mortars up in front, and the shells were whizzing around like bees.... They weren't fooling. They got every one of my fourteen men, killed or wounded them.

I tried to help them. They were my men. I picked up my squad leader [Robarts]. He was sure hit bad all right. He'd been shot right through the stomach. I picked him up: he tried to say something to me, then he died right in my arms. His mouh suddenly began to gush blood, his eyes started to stare, without winking, and I knew he was dead. I felt his pulse, but I couldn't feel anything.

Some of the fellows near me were asking for help. I could almost reach out and touch them. They were whispering, "Help me, Tony, oh God, help me," but I had to work that gun. I just had to. There wasn't anybody else.

With Robarts dead, gunner Private Joseph J. Seymour mortally wounded, and Private Ciavarelli disabled, Casamento took over the gun and manned it alone until relief finally arrived. He would receive the Medal of Honor decades later.

Burial Information or Disposition

On November 2, 1942, 1/5 began to gather its dead. Of the thirty-nine fatalities reported on the previous day, nine were interred in the 1st Marine Division Cemetery. Some of these died of wounds on their way to the hospital. The remainder – thirty enlisted men – were all buried in the field. The same location was recorded for each man: “About 400 yards west of Point Cruz, about 600 yards inland from the sea, on the island of Guadalcanal.” Thirty markers in a small area must have been an arresting sight – and, one would presume, a highly visible one. Yet to this day, only seven of these Marines have ever been located, and the exact location of the rest is still a mystery.

Read more about this burial site at Military History Now.

Next Of Kin Address

Address of sister, Mrs. Wilhelmina Galipo Rosier.

Location Of Loss

Approximate location of the burial site near Point Cruz.

Related Profiles

Members of First Battalion, 5th Marines KIA November 1, 1942.
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