George Frank Kern

George Kern, a pre-war regular Marine trained in radio, was a comms specialist assigned to the 8th Marines. He saw service on Guadalcanal as the radio section chief of 3/8; after accepting a commission, he transferred to 2/8 as their communications officer. Kern trained his new section for several months before embarking for the battle of Tarawa.

The amphibious assault on Betio, Tarawa atoll – Operation GALVANIC – commenced on 20 November 1943. The Second Battalion 8th Marines was given the job of assaulting the easternmost of three landing beaches – “Red 3” – and, once ashore, moving inland to quickly secure the airfield that covered much of the tiny island’s surface. A heavy and morale-boosting naval bombardment convinced many Marines that the task would be a simple one, and spirits were high at 0900 when their amphibious tractors started paddling for the beach.

The Japanese were quick to recover. Shells began bursting over the LVTs. “As the tractors neared the shore the air filled with the smoke and fragments of shells fired from 3-inch guns,” notes A Brief History of the 8th Marines. “Fortunately, casualties had been light on the way to the beach, but once the men dismounted and struggled to get beyond the beach, battle losses increased dramatically.” Most of the beach defenses were still intact, and these were supported by row after row of pillboxes, rifle pits, and machine gun nests.

Lieutenant Kern made it to the beach, but was not ashore for long. In Bloody Tarawa, historian Eric Hammel records the last meeting between Major William Chamberlin and Lieutenant Kern. “Kern had been painfully wounded in the leg and was on his way back to the reef to find a ride out,” writes Hammel. “There was little Chamberlin could do to help Kern, so he wished the lieutenant luck and saw him on his way.

“No one ever saw George Kern again.”

Exactly what became of Lieutenant Kern is a mystery. He was initially reported as wounded and evacuated – however, he never turned up at any medical facility. Kern’s status was summarily changed to “missing,” and finally to “killed in action” effective 20 November 1943.