Robert Edward Schantz

Robert Schantz enlisted in January 1942 spent most of his time in the service as a member of Easy Company, 5th Marines. He saw combat at Tulagi and on Guadalcanal, and was slightly wounded in action along the Matanikau River on 26 September 1942. A piece of shrapnel struck Schantz’s left thigh, but the damage was only superficial; he received treatment in the field and stayed on the line.

On 7 October 1942, Schantz’s battalion left their bivouac to participate in a renewed push against the Matanikau to their west. They took up positions along the riverbank that night, and on the morning of  8 October they moved down towards an established. Japanese troops guarding a fork in the river slowed up the battalion’s progress. At 1640 hours, “heavy gun fire and mortar fire began” in the Easy Company sector, “causing everyone to seek any available cover.” Major David McDougal, the  battalion commander, was wounded at this time, as was Corporal Edward Melnitsky.

The only casualty in Easy Company’s ranks that day was Private Schantz, who died of gunshot wounds. While no firsthand accounts of his final moments are known, he was likely killed by the fusillade that wounded McDougal and Melnitsky.