Edward Arthur Wilds
PFC Edward A. Wilds served with Dog Company, First Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He was killed in action at Guadalcanal on 10 November 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 328764
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
September 7, 1920
at Lucas, IA
Parents*
John Adam Wild
Mary Ann (Evans) Wild
Education
Des Moines East High School
One year of college, details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Student
*Note: The family surname is spelled "Wild" or "Wilds" on various documents. Edward's military paperwork uses "Wilds."
Service Life
Entered Service
December 11, 1941
at Des Moines, IA
Home Of Record
3818 Columbia Street
Des Moines, IA
Next Of Kin
Wife, Mrs. Charlene Mae (Stouffle) Wilds
Military Specialty
Machine gunner
Primary Unit
D/1/2nd Marines
Campaigns Served
Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
After spending several days in reserve positions supporting units of the 164th Infantry Regiment, two battalions of the 2nd Marines were ordered to recommence offensive operations against Japanese troops west of Guadalcanal’s Point Cruz. The terrain was rough and hilly – familiar to combat veterans, but physically taxing. “The day was the hottest I can remember on the ‘Canal,” wrote William Rogal of A/1/2.
Able and Charlie Companies advanced together, with Dog Company – heavy weapons – following in Charlie’s footsteps. It was common practice at the time for a platoon of heavy machine gunners to accompany each rifle company; 1/2nd Marines may have followed this procedure, or kept the weapons (heavy in terms of caliber and physical weight) farther back until needed. When the leading rifle squads approached a grassy hilltop, Japanese gunners opened fire and pinned them to exposed positions. Able Company took the worst drubbing – “We had our asses whipped” admitted William Rogal – and Dog Company also took some fire from enemy machine guns and mortars. The battalion finally managed a “strategic withdrawal” carrying a distressing number of wounded Marines with them.
PFC Edward Wilds was the only Dog Company Marine killed in action on 10 November 1942. Unfortunately, no eyewitness accounts of his fate are known.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; remains not recovered. In his memoir, Rogal notes “Even retreating wasn’t easy for we didn’t have enough stretchers for the wounded nor enough able-bodied men to get them and our weapons back to the safety of our lines. There was no help for it – we had to leave our dead.”
Wilds was “presumably buried in the field at place of death” but there is no documented evidence to back up this assumption.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of wife, Mrs. Charlene Mae Wilds.
Location Of Loss
Approximate location of the ambush site of 10 November 1942.
