Franz Müller was born on 29 October 1919, in the city of Great Kikinda, Yugoslavia. In 1921, the Müllers – father Johann, mother Emma, and children Magda, Johan, and baby Franz – left their home and traveled to Antwerp, where they boarded the SS Lapland for passage to the United States. The family arrived in New York on 5 June 1921, and made their way to Philadelphia. The children quickly adopted American-sounding first names – Helen, John, and Frank – and dropped the umlaut from their surname.

The year 1934 was a cruel one for the Muller family. In January, 21-year-old John Muller was killed in an automobile accident. Johan died later that year, leaving Emma a widow with fifteen-year-old Frank at home.

Three years later, on his eighteenth birthday, Frank Muller joined the Marine Corps.

Frank Muller enlisted on 29 October 1937 and went through boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. Much of his first year in the service was spent at the Quantico Marine Barracks, where he cared for horses at the post stable. In late 1938, Muller transferred to Norfolk to attend Sea School, and was posted to the Marine detachment aboard the cruiser USS Wichita.

After two years of sea duty, PFC Muller returned to the Norfolk naval base. In the spring of 1941, he volunteered for parachute training and earned his jump wings in July. He was assigned to the Second Parachute Battalion, and was stationed in California for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Thanks to his years of pre-war service Muller rose quickly through the ranks, attaining the rank of Platoon Sergeant by April 1943. His unit deployed overseas and was redesignated as Company G, Second Battalion, 1st Marine Parachute Regiment. In the fall of 1943, the ‘Chutes prepared for a combat jump on a Bougainville airfield, but the plans were ultimately scrapped. Instead, Lt. Col. Victor Krulak’s Second Battalion was ordered to make an amphibious raid on the island of Choiseul – a diversion for the main landings on Bougainville.

Platoon Sergeant Muller and his men landed on Choiseul on 28 October 1943 and took part in several small patrols. On 1 November, a combat patrol consisting of 87 G Company paramarines – including Muller – departed for a more aggressive assignment, harassing a Japanese base near the Warrior River.

Over the course of 1-2 November 1943, Major Warner Biggers’ patrol infiltrated Japanese positions, burned a supply dump with mortar fire, and began a planned withdrawal to the mouth of the Warrior River. Upon arrival on the western bank, Biggers set up a perimeter and allowed some of his tired Marines into the river to bathe. At the same time, he detailed some men to swim the river and locate a radio team stationed on the opposite bank to call for an extraction.

Japanese gunfire erupted on the swimmers, inflicting no casualties but sparking a serious firefight. The Marines in the water hurried back to the western bank. Biggers abandoned the plan to reach the radiomen, and instead ordered 1Lt. Samuel M. Johnston and Platoon Sergeant Muller to swim across and make contact with a reserve force guarding the patrol’s boats at a concealed cache on the opposite bank. Corporal Paul Pare volunteered to join the group, and the three Marines slipped into the water.

Pare, the weakest of the swimmers, lagged behind his buddies as he struggled with the river’s current. He saw Johnston and Muller reach the east bank, where they were met by Japanese fire. Platoon Sergeant Muller slid back into the river and attempted a few strokes, but floundered and sank
and disappeared. As Pare paddled back to the west bank, he saw Japanese troops haul the wounded Lieutenant Johnston out of the river and into the jungle.

Johnston and Cpl. Winston Gallaher, who swam the river on an earlier mission, were both captured by the Japanese; their bodies were found weeks later and buried by coastwatchers. Muller’s body was never found, and most likely was washed out to sea by the river’s current.

CENOTAPHS
Manila American Cemetery & Memorial