Byron Anthony Kirk was born in Ortonville, Minnesota on 6 August 1919. He grew up in Big Stone County with his parents, Thomas and Josephine Kirk, his older brother Ronald Thomas, and younger sister LaVonne.

The Kirk parents divorced in the 1920s, and the children split time between Ortonville and Andover, South Dakota. Byron was particularly mobile, as the 1930 census counts him twice – once in each parents’ home. As a teenager, he lived in Wisconsin with extended family while attending St. Norbert’s high school in West De Pere; he also attended Devitt Preparatory School in Washington, D.C.

In 1939, Byron received a coveted appointment to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis. “Brother” Kirk was noted for his “acid wit and take-offs on individuals” – and also for his lack of height. “Small in stature but abounding in words, ‘Brother’ could squeeze himself into and talk himself out of most situations,” noted the Lucky Bag yearbook.

Kirk was due to graduate from Annapolis in 1943, but the start of World War II accelerated his training. He was a “three-year wonder” graduate of 1942, and was immediately commissioned in the Marine Corps.

Lieutenant Kirk accepted his commission on 19 June 1942 and was immediately sent for additional training as a Marine infantry officer at Quantico, Virginia and New River, North Carolina. When he joined Company C, First Battalion, 3rd Marines in the fall of 1942, he was the only Regular officer in the company. Although only a second lieutenant fresh out of school, Kirk was tapped to serve as the company executive officer under Captain Donald Weiler.

Skippers came and went, but Kirk maintained his role as “XO” for the next year. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in the spring of 1943, and served in California, Samoa, and Guadalcanal in preparation for combat operations in the Solomon Islands.

At the end of October 1943, Lieutenant Kirk and Charlie Company boarded the USS President Adams for transit to a new beachhead at Cape Torokina on the island of Bougainville.

On the morning of 1 November 1943, C/1/3rd Marines boarded their landing craft from the Adams. First Lieutenant Kirk boarded Boat 21, which carried two squads of 2 Platoon, a detachment from Headquarters Company, and a demolition squad from the 19th Marines.

The landing was stiffly opposed by the Japanese defenders ashore, and a number of Adams landing craft were hit before reaching shore. Boat #21, in the third wave, took the most punishment. Three 75mm shells slammed through the ramp in quick succession, killing or wounding most of the Marines aboard as well as members of the boat crew.

One of these hits felled Byron Kirk; an observer “saw [him] fall and heard him groan when a shell hit the boat.”

Boat #21 careened up onto the beach, where five Marines managed to escape over the side. A member of the Adams shore party took command, backed the boat off the beach, and headed towards the transports at top speed. As the boat filled with water, those still able to move struggled to put on life jackets.

The wrecked boat finally sank at an unspecified point near Puruata Island. One sailor and five Marines were rescued from the water; the rest, including Lieutenant Kirk, were lost at sea.

Byron Kirk was reported as missing in action “after initial landing” on Bougainville, and was officially declared dead on 2 November 1944. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Captain.

“After the first shell hit, the men in the forward part of the boat fell back toward the center as if a big wave had pushed them over. A shell fragment from the second hit me in the left thigh. The boat grounded, and I started over the side. It was an awful mess. Bloody men pulled themselves off the deck and forced themselves over the side. One man had part of his back blown off. Everyone kept hold of his rifle. Some of them only had half a rifle. The water was up to my chin. As I hit the sand, I looked back and saw that Smith wasn’t going to make it; he had a wound in his head. He was one of my boys. I went back, pulled him in, and dragged him behind a coconut log.”
Sergeant Dick K. McAllister, C/1/3

“Of the eight boats in the third wave, Boat #21 received three 75mm hits through the ramp just prior to hitting the beach. Five Marines were seen to climb out over the side, the remainder were killed or wounded. NICKELS (coxswain) and BALSCHUESMAN (bowman) jumped off stern of boat and were picked up by Boat #10. A member of the beach party, F1c Gilbert VARRIA backed boat #21 off the beach. The majority of the Marines embarked were wounded or killed. CM3 Raymond SCAPPAROTTA and MoMM2c Harvey PETERSON of the Ship’s Company were killed or wounded. VARRIA operated the boat at the highest speed away from the beach. It was filling rapidly. A few Marines were able to move to put on life jackets. This boat sank after passing between Puruata and Torokina Islands. In all, five Marines and VARRIA were the only ones saved….”
– Action Report of Torokina Point Landings, USS President Adams, 1 November 1943

CENOTAPHS
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Mount Calvary Cemetery, Cedar Rapids, IA