Charles Wyndam Roberts
PFC Charles W. “Hardy” Roberts served with Charlie Company, First Marine Raider Battalion (Edson’s Raiders).
He was killed in action at the battle of Edson’s Ridge, Guadalcanal, on 14 September 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 350567
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
History
Charles Wyndam Roberts was born in Saltville, Virginia on 10 December 1920. He was the fourth of eight children raised by Wyndam “W.R.” and Elizabeth (Helton) Roberts. Charles – known around town as “Hardy” Roberts – attended local schools, where he was “a good student as well as an outstanding athlete.” Hardy made the local papers as a star halfback on the football team, and was deemed “one of the most popular young men in Saltville.” A former schoolmate remembered Hardy as “our high school super athlete… star of football and baseball.”
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Hardy joined the Marine Corps on 13 January 1942 from a recruiting station in Charleston, West Virginia. One of his hometown buddies, Edward Proffitt, enlisted at the same time and the two served together from boot camp through their selection for the elite First Raider Battalion.
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Roberts and Proffitt saw their first combat in August 1942 in the invasion of Tulagi. Their battalion then shipped over to Guadalcanal, and took up defensive positions on the perimeter surrounding Henderson Field.
On the night of 12 September 1942, Company C of the First Raider Battalion – including Roberts and Proffitt – was deployed to cover the southern approaches to the Ridge. They would be the first line of defense in the event of a Japanese attack.
The Japanese came that night. The Kohusho Battalion of the Kawaguchi Detachment “sliced into Charlie Company with surgical skill,” according to historian Joseph H. Alexander. Almost before they knew it, several Marine positions were overrun and isolated, or entirely wiped out.
Ed Proffitt would survive the battle, and later told a Bristol Herald reporter that his “saddest moment came when the buddy he enlisted with, PFC Charles Roberts, was killed about ten yards away from him on Guadalcanal.”
The exact circumstances of Hardy’s death are not known; he was initially listed as missing in action, but this was soon updated to killed in action as of 14 September 1942. It is likely that he lost his life on the night of 12 September when his position was overwhelmed by Japanese forces.
Although Roberts was reported as buried on Guadalcanal, no remains have yet been identified as his, and he is still unaccounted for. It is possible that he, or one of his Raider comrades, may have been buried as Unknown X-8 in the First Marine Division Cemetery.
Decorations
Purple Heart
For wounds resulting in his death in action, 14 September 1942.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. W. R. Roberts.
Location Of Loss
PFC Roberts was killed in action in the vicinity of Edson’s Ridge.
Hardy was my uncle.
He was declared dead 15 Sep 42.