Raymond J. Schulthies

	NAME Raymond Joseph Schulthies	NICKNAME Peepsight	SERVICE NUMBER 270310
	UNIT Company B First Battalion 8th Marines	HOME OF RECORD 208 South 6th Street West Branch Michigan	NEXT OF KIN Mother, Mrs. Matilda Schulthies
	DATE OF BIRTH March 27, 1916	ENTERED SERVICE February 14, 1939	DATE OF LOSS November 19, 1942
	REGION Solomon Islands	CAMPAIGN / AREA Guadalcanal	CASUALTY TYPE Killed In Action
CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS PFC Raymond J. Schulthies served with Company B, 8th Marines during the battle of Guadalcanal. On 19 November 1942, B/1/8 was instructed to cover the advance of an Army infantry unit moving into positions west of the Matanikau River. Although “opposed by small enemy groups using light machine guns and light mortars,” the company managed to advance some 400 yards west of Point Cruz. A Japanese offensive was gaining momentum, and their advance elements ran into B/1/8. As a small group of Marines tried to evacuate a wounded buddy, they were ambushed by a Japanese machine gun. In the ensuing firefight, PFC “Peepsight” Schulthies was killed. Schulthies was reportedly buried in the field west of Point Cruz, but his grave was never located after the war.
INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Purple Heart	LAST KNOWN RANK Private First Class	STATUS OF REMAINS Buried in the field	MEMORIALS St. Joseph’s Cemetery, West Branch, MI Manila American Cemetery

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It’s all so real, with pals going down around you. Pals like “Heavy” Atkins and poor little “Whitey,” twice filled full of holes. And fellows like Reynolds, the grenade specialist, who was stalked by Jap snipers. And “Little Smitty” whose brother, our sergeant “Big Smitty,” saw him as he went down. And “Peepsight” Schulthies from San Diego [sic] who crumpled beside me, and “Punchy” from Rhode Island and “Big Outlaw” who were gone in the explosion of one mortar charge. All but “Heavy” are gone now, but the fellows like to put in a lick for them.

– Barney Ross, B/1/8, in Barney Ross on Guadalcanal As Told To George Shaffer, King Features Syndicate, 1943.

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