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Stephen Serdula

Corporal Stephen Serdula served with the regimental intelligence (R-2) section of the 5th Marines.
He was reported missing in action from the “Goettge Patrol” at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 13 August 1942.

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

Branch

Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 334714

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

December 19, 1922
at Corning, NY

Parents

Anthony Serdula (d. 1938)
Tenerska “Theresa” (Urban) Serdula

Education

Corning Free Academy

Occupation & Employer

Student

Service Life

Entered Service

August 22, 1940
at Syracuse, NY

Home Of Record

308 Beach Street
Corning, NY

Next Of Kin

Mother, Mrs. Theresa Serdula

Military Specialty

Combat Intelligence
Scout

Primary Unit

HQ, 5th Marines
R-2 Section

Campaigns Served

Guadalcanal

Individual Decorations

Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

Corporal Stephen Serdula served with the regimental intelligence (R-2) section of the 5th Marines during the campaign for the Solomon Islands.

On the afternoon of 12 August 1942, Colonel Frank B. Goettge – the 1st Marine Division intelligence officer (D-2) – ordered a reconnaissance patrol of an area west of Point Cruz. Goettge was led to believe that the local Japanese garrison was starving and wanted to surrender; he hoped to capture prisoners and simultaneously scout and map the area beyond the Marine perimeter. To accomplish this mission, the colonel gathered two dozen trained specialists and placed himself in command.

The patrol was a disaster from the outset. After departing Kukum in total darkness, the Marines landed in the wrong place – and after grounding their boat on a sandbar, came ashore just west of the Matanikau River. A determined Japanese guard force pinned the patrol on the beach near Horahi Village, and picked off the Marines one by one. Only three managed to escape to the safety of American lines.

Corporal Serdula was reported as missing in action when the patrol failed to return to safety. Officially, nothing more was ever learned of Goettge’s men, and all were eventually declared dead as of 14 August 1943.

Burial Information or Disposition

The fate of the Goettge Patrol was known only too well to the Marines on Guadalcanal – especially members of the 5th Marines, who made numerous patrols and fought a battle over the same area. Dismembered body parts were seen strewn about the riverbanks, and a burial trench was later found near Horahi itself. However, due to the conditions of battle, none of the remains could be recovered – and later campaigning and construction eventually obliterated all physical traces of the Goettge Patrol.

[A patrol from K/3/5th Marines] found Goettge’s men on the east bank of the river.

The smell came first, “a scent that those of us who were there can recall in an instant,” said Sergeant Thurman Miller. “What lay beneath the foliage was no longer human.… Sticking out of the sand was a boot, containing the foot of its owner. I scraped in the sand and uncovered another legging with the leg still in it.”

“The first thing I saw was the severed head of a Marine,” recalled Sergeant Jim McEnery. “I almost let out a yell because the head was moving back and forth in the water and looked like it was alive. Then I realized it was just bobbing in the small waves lapping at the shore. They would wash it up onto the sand a few inches, then it would float back out again when the waves receded.” Their shocked eyes beheld parts strewn in every direction as they slowly worked across the sandspit. The ragged stump of a leg sporting a neatly laced boondocker. A headless, armless torso still clad in a first sergeant’s shirt. Less identifiable pieces floated in the water or lay fly-covered and rotting in the sand. Some men began to retch, but most stood stock still in horrified silence. “No one spoke,” recalled Miller. “Not a word. Some things are better left unsaid.”

The Goettge Patrol has been the object of multiple expeditions and digs over the decades, but so far none have been successful.

Next Of Kin Address

Address of mother, Mrs. Theresa Serdula.

Location Of Loss

The Goettge Patrol was ambushed near the western bank of the Matanikau.

Goettge Patrol Casualties

Missing in action 12-13 August 1942.

Leaving Mac Behind: The Lost Marines of Guadalcanal

Frank Few lay in his foxhole, wishing the daylight away. Warm seawater swirled into his foxhole, turning pinkish as it mingled with the blood seeping from his chest and arm. Sand was everywhere—stuck to the Japanese blood on his clothes, in his eyes, in the Reising gun he borrowed from Monk and which would only fire single shots. Few counted out his remaining rounds and stuffed them into his mouth to keep the sand and salt water away. Occasionally, a bullet snapped overhead, as if he needed a reminder to keep his head down.

Trapped in a flooding foxhole, wounded, almost out of ammunition, with the sun coming up. It could not get much worse: “The hell with this for a lark,” he thought.

Read more about the Goettge Patrol in "Leaving Mac Behind."
Click the cover for details.

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4 thoughts on “Stephen Serdula”

  1. All of these Serdula men were my Great Uncles. This post is incredible, and such a wonderful way to remember these brave men. Thank you!

  2. Many of his nephews were named in his honor, my son being the first of these.
    Dick(brother-in-law). Thank you.

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