Charles Beltrami
Corporal Charles “Bully” Beltrami served with King Company, Third Battalion, 5th Marines.
He was killed in action near Point Cruz, Guadalcanal, on 2 November 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 294339
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered.
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
November 27, 1921
at Belltown, PA
Parents
John Amedeo Beltrami
Savilla (Butler) Beltrami
Education
Shade Township High School (1940)
Occupation & Employer
Enlisted after graduation
Service Life
Entered Service
September 6, 1940
at Pittsburgh, PA
Home Of Record
Stoystown, PA
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Savilla Beltrami
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
K/3/5th Marines
Campaigns Served
Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
The “November Offensive” push to the west of Guadalcanal’s Matanikau River began badly for the 5th Marines. On 1 November, determined Japanese troops in well-fortified positions near Point Cruz slowed, then stopped 1/5th Marines with heavy casualties. A heavily-armed bivouac near the base of the Point offered the most resistance; plans for 2 November required the First and Third Battalions to hold the enemy in place, while the Second Battalion maneuvered to get behind the bivouac and cut off reinforcement or retreat.
Item and King Companies of 3/5, positioned near the base of Point Cruz, needed to shift their lines a short distance to clear any enemy troops lurking in front of the strong point. From the account of Sergeant Thurman “TI” Miller of King Company’s First Platoon, this slight adjustment resulted in casualties.
War is a game of objectives. 01 was taken. Stand by for orders. 02 was designated, a ravine some 200 yards distant. Take 02 and rest. So in the direction of 02 we went. The temperature was around 110 degrees. 02 was hard come by. We lost some men, including Beltrami, 18 years old and had never shaved. 02 was taken. Costly, but taken. Stand by for orders. Take 03 and you‘re relieved. 03 was just an imaginary line on the map and was taken, again with many wounded in our company.
We took this objective but were pinned down and couldn't move just yet. The high command gave us a burst of artillery fire, which helped. Now the high command poured salt into our wounds. "You have to take 04." Hell, man, we already took more than our allotment! It was here we found that war didn't come in allotments. You took what you could, held what you had, and took more if the job demanded it.
Corporal Charles Beltrami, a pre-war Regular barely nineteen years old, died of shrapnel wounds to the head. For unknown reasons, his remains were not recovered from the field.
Burial Information or Disposition
None, remains not recovered. Beltrami was declared non-recoverable in 1949.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of parents, John & Savilla Beltrami.
Location Of Loss
Beltrami was killed in action near Point Cruz, Guadalcanal.
