George Joseph Atkins
PFC George J. Atkins served with Mike Company, Third Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 481561
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
December 6, 1919
at Chicago, IL
Parents
Samuel Merritt Atkins
Alphonsine (Lalonde) Atkins
Education
High school graduate
College graduate
Occupation & Employer
Student
Service Life
Entered Service
October 28, 1942
at Washington, DC
Home Of Record
119 North Second Street
West Branch, MI
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. Samuel M. Atkins
Military Specialty
81mm Mortar
Primary Unit
M/3/2nd Marines
Campaigns Served
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
A notation in PFC Atkins’ military file indicates he trained specifically as a mortarman.
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
PFC George Atkins served with Mike Company, the heavy weapons unit of the Third Battalion, 2nd Marines. During training, he qualified with the 60mm mortar and was likely a crewman for a big 81mm mortar in combat.
On 20 November 1943, Atkins’ battalion was assigned the task of spearheading the assault on Betio’s Beach Red One – a curved stretch of sand running several hundred yards from the “bird’s beak” in the west to Red Two in the east. The natural shape of the beach created a crossfire for the defenders, and the area became known as “the Pocket.” Slow-moving landing craft were quickly targeted from multiple angles, and many were knocked out as they approached the shore. Hundreds of men were killed or wounded before stepping foot on dry land. Those who survived faced a network of obstacles manned by determined Japanese defenders, and the fighting was close-in and savage.
PFC Atkins was killed in action during the landings. In “Bloody Tarawa,” author Eric Hammel offers this account of the Michigander’s final moments:
On the beach, Pfc George Atkins, a machine gun squad leader, was ordered to go after the Japanese guns firing on the sandbar. Atkins’s seven man squad, doubling as riflemen, immediately overran two gun emplacements, but the assault bogged down moments later when Atkins was shot dead going after a third gun.
While the veracity of this account cannot be confirmed by existing primary sources, it is certain that Atkins met his death somewhere in the vicinity of Betio’s Beach Red One.
Burial Information or Disposition
At first, Atkins’ battalion had no information about his burial location, and entered the notation “Disposition Unknown” in their muster roll. However, in early 1944 Fleet Marine Force received word that Atkins was buried in “Cemetery 2, Betio Island.” Photographs of his marker, and a map showing the location of the grave, were provided by the Island Command.
Pictures of the grave show a Japanese bunker nearby – perhaps the same one referenced in Hammel’s account. However, the grave itself is located far south of Beach Red One – beyond the limits of the 2nd Marines’ advance on 20 November 1943.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company arrived at Betio to exhume remains from dozens of cemeteries. They discovered that most individual grave markers were only memorials, with no remains buried beneath. This may have been the case with George Atkins, for none of the remains found by the 604th have been identified as his, and there are no current Betio unknowns linked to Cemetery 2.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. Samuel M. Atkins
Location Of Loss
PFC Atkins’ battalion was engaged in the vicinity of Beach Red One.
