Glenn William Sayre

Glenn Sayre enlisted in the Marine Corps from Los Angeles, California, on 12 July 1940. After completing boot camp and communication school at MCB San Diego, he was assigned duty with the 6th Marines as a field telephone operator. Sayre participated in the regiment’s Iceland deployment from July 1941 to March 1942, and saw his first combat during the Guadalcanal campaign in January 1943. He rose steadily through the enlisted ranks and was offered a commission on 12 August 1943. As a newly minted “mustang,” Sayre headed the communications platoon of Second Battalion, 6th Marines at Tarawa and during preparations for the invasion of the Mariana Islands in the summer of 1944.

On 15 June 1944, Lieutenant Sayre’s battalion led the attack on Saipan’s Red Beach 2. “As the assault waves started over the reef, it seemed to explode,” records A Brief History of the 6th Marines. “Well registered artillery and mortar shells from hidden and camouflaged enemy guns turned the barrier into an inferno of fire, thunder, and water cascades. The LVTs moved relentlessly on, leaving many of their numbers either broached or destroyed.” Although suffering heavy casualties, including their commanding officer, 2/6th Marines gained a foothold on the beach and began pushing inland. As the comms officer, Sayre’s primary responsibility was establishing a message center at the command post to keep the line companies connected to Headquarters. He was near the battalion CP when the Japanese unleashed a heavy barrage.

When the smoke and flame cleared, “several bodies were strewn around,” noted a casualty report. Although Sayre was believed to be among the dead, “identification was impossible.”

In the confusion of battle, Sayre was initially recorded as having been wounded and evacuated from Saipan; this message was relayed to his parents back in Porterville. Correcting the discrepancy took several months, and it was not until December 1944 that William and Grace learned their son had instead been killed in action.