Dudley Jefferson Sommerkamp

Dudley Sommerkamp grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. A talented drummer – he played with the St. Petersburg High School band and a group called “Tubby’s Bob-O-Link Orchestra” – young “Dud” was also known for his ping-pong prowess and his presence on the local Boy Scout scene. After graduating from high school, Sommerkamp apprenticed as an electrician for several months, but ultimately decided to join the peacetime Marine Corps.

Sommerkamp trained as a radio operator, then volunteered for duty with the First Parachute Battalion and deployed overseas as a “Paramarine.” He saw action at Gavutu, Tulagi, and Guadalcanal; during the famous battle for Edson’s Ridge, a Japanese bullet clipped the left side of Sommerkamp’s face. Fortunately, the wound was more startling than serious, and Sommerkamp was soon back on duty.

After the Guadalcanal campaign, Sommerkamp was promoted to corporal and reassigned to Company C. He landed on the island of Bougainville in early November 1943 and fought through another arduous campaign. By the end of the year, only a few Marine units remained on Bougainville and fewer still were engaged in active combat. In Silk Chutes and Hard Fighting: U.S. Marine Corps Parachute Units in WWII, historian Jon T. Hoffman notes that “the 1st [Parachute] Battalion conducted aggressive patrols” against Japanese positions near the Torokina River during this time. Hoffman’s work states that the “only serious contact” occurred on 28 December 1943, as Company A attacked and destroyed a series of 8 pillboxes in quick succession. However, this was not the battalion’s last engagement along the Torokina.

On New Year’s Day 1944, Company C, First Marine Parachute Regiment became embroiled in a heavy firefight along the Torokina River near “coordinates 134.22 – 210.11, IMAC Hasty Terrain Map Sheet #180, Second Edition.” Their foes, once again, were Japanese troops in heavily fortified positions – and while the defenders were ultimately overwhelmed, they extracted a heavy toll from the Paramarines. One particular pillbox pinned down Dudley Sommerkamp’s squad; the corporal “unhesitatingly disregarded his own personal safety in a valiant attempt to charge,” but was shot down and mortally wounded before reaching his objective. The position was ultimately taken, but Sommerkamp died of gunshot wounds to the abdomen shortly thereafter.

Sommerkamp received a posthumous Bronze Star Medal for valor during this engagement. His parents were informed of his death on January 25, 1944 – Dud’s 24th birthday.