Everett Bryant
Private Everett Bryant served with Queen Company, Fourth Marine Raider Battalion.
He was killed in action at Bairoko Harbor, New Georgia, on 20 July 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 472392
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
June 30, 1925
at Bernie, MO
Parents*
Everett Cecil Bryant, Sr.
Mattie May (Lyons) Bryant
Stepfather, Finney Lampher
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
*Note: Everett's birth parents were divorced; he appears as "Everett Lampher" in the 1940 Census.
Service Life
Entered Service
October 6, 1942
at Detroit, MI
Home Of Record
208 East Rundel Street
Pontiac, MI
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Mattie Lanpher
Military Specialty
Raider
Machine Gunner
Primary Unit
Q/4th Raider Battalion
Campaigns Served
New Georgia
Individual Decorations
Silver Star
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Everett Bryant served as an NCO with Company Q, Fourth Marine Raider Battalion, during the New Georgia campaign. He saw his first combat at Wickham Anchorage / Vura Village on 30 June 1943 –his 18th birthday – and by 12 July, his battalion was back at Guadalcanal, pleased with their success and believing their part in the fighting over. Six days later, however, they were disembarking from transports at Enogai Inlet, reinforcing the First Raider Battalion and preparing for an assault on the Japanese stronghold at Bairoko Habor.
The attack began on 20 July 1943. The First and Fourth Raider Battalions, advancing along the Enogai-Bairoko Trail, formed the northern wing of the assault, with 3/148th Infantry supporting along the Triri-Bairoko trail to the south. “Between the two trails was tangled jungle and vile swampland, which we all knew meant there would be no opportunity for fancy maneuvering,” recalled Raider Marlin Groft (B/1st Raider Battalion). “When we attacked Bairoko it would be a desperate, head-on frontal assault.” At 1015, the Raiders hit the first Japanese outposts and pushed through with grenades and bayonets – only to run headlong into an impassible main line of resistance. “A wall of lead came at us from Nambus firmly placed in nests chiseled into the hard coral,” Groft continued. “Our advance was brought to a halt…. If combat men ever experienced a Hell on Earth, this was it.”
Captain Lincoln Holdzkom’s Queen Company was the last unit of the 4th Raiders to deploy, arriving at the front line just before 1500 hours. It was hoped that the relatively fresh Marines could launch a decisive counterattack.
Holdzkom led his Raiders around the left flank of the line and into the very face of a devastating torrent of fire from the enemy positions. Although they attacked with great vigor and extraordinary heroism, Holdzkom's men didn't have a chance. Without the support of artillery, air, and other heavy weapons, sheer guts proved ineffective against the well entrenched enemy. Within a matter of a very few minutes, the company was shattered and forced to withdraw.
Young Private Bryant distinguished himself during this attack. “Never concerned with his own safety when he could strike a damaging blow at the enemy, he was persistent and audacious in the operation of his machine gun, bringing exceptionally effective fire to bear on strong Japanese positions,” noted the citation for his subsequent Silver Star Medal. Unfortunately, conspicuous gallantry made him a prime target, and Bryant suffered a severe abdominal wound. He refused evacuation and ultimately died at his weapon “several hours later.”
By 1700 hours, high casualties and fading daylight forced the Raiders to withdraw back to Enogai. The “screwed up affair” of Bairoko was the worst defeat ever inflicted on a Raider unit; the 4th Raider Battalion alone suffered 127 wounded and 29 killed in action.
Burial Information or Disposition
Most of the Raiders killed in action at Bairoko were left in the field; evacuating the wounded took priority. In the days that followed small American patrols ventured back to the battlefield to collect equipment and locate the fallen. They had some success, as noted in the 1st Raider Regiment’s war diary:
22 July 1943, 1200 – ENOGAI-BAIROKO patrol salvages communication gear, recovers some Blue [Amerian] dead, reports some Jap activity.
23 July 1943, 1200 – BAIROKO patrol buries 4 Marines, reports Jap activity.
24 July 1943, 1230 – BAIROKO patrol reports Jap defensive positions still manned, buries two dead Marines.
With Japanese troops active in the area, it was deemed to difficult and dangerous for a small patrol to carry remains back to Enogai, and thus they were buried in the field. More than a month would pass before a general retrieval and recovery effort could be made. Photographs of this process show Marines carrying blanket-wrapped bundles, suggesting an advanced state of decomposition. Individually identifying the dead would have been challenging, but was accomplished in most cases before burial in the Enogai cemetery. The dead Raiders were later moved from Enogai to the New Georgia
Cemetery, and finally to the Finschaffen cemetery complex in New Guinea.
Private Bryant was reportedly buried along the Enogai-Bairoko Trail at “Coordinates 42.3-423.3, Hasty Terrain Map 102, Sheet B, New Georgia.” Three other Raiders – Private Carrol H. Allen (N), Corporal Berent L. Larson (N), and Sergeant Carl Phillips (P) – have the same notation, which may suggest that they were the group buried on 23 July.
While Allen and Phillips were located and identified, there is no further burial data for Corporal Larson or Private Bryant. They may have been recovered from the field and buried as unknowns, or may still lie somewhere near Bairoko on the Dragons Peninsula.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Mattie Lanpher.
Location Of Loss
Private Bryant was killed in action near Bairoko (Mbaeroko), New Georgia.
