Gordon Robert Stewart
Private Gordon R. Stewart served with George Company, Second Battalion, 5th Marines.
He was killed in action at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 26 September 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 354008
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
May 9, 1924
at Cortland, NY
Parents
Orville Jay Stewart
Jeanette (deCoopman) Stewart
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Student
Service Life
Entered Service
January 12, 1942
at Syracuse, NY
Home Of Record
Moravia, NY
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. Orville Stewart
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
G/2/5th Marines
Campaigns Served
Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Private Gordon Stewart joined the Marine Corps at Syracuse alongside his cousin, John Bunn, and two lads from the Finger Lakes – Albert “Ozzie” DePasquale, and Raymond H. Maassen. The boys trained together at Parris Island; Stewart, Maassen, and DePasquale were assigned to G/2/5th Marines for overseas deployment. By mid-September 1942, Private Stewart was a veteran of landings on Tulagi, combat patrols on Guadalcanal, and the battle for Edson’s Ridge.
On September 25, Stewart’s battalion was ordered to saddle up and head into the boondocks to support a friendly combat patrol. They were placed under the temporary command of LtCol. Lewis “Chesty” Puller, and patrolled west towards the Matanikau River. They followed the eastern bank towards the river’s mouth and attempted to cross over a sandspit on the morning of 26 September. Japanese defenders knocked back scouts from Easy Company, and the Marines formed up along the bank to force their way across.
Captain Tom Richmond’s George Company was ordered to lead the assault across the spit. “The roof caved in,” recalled First Sergeant Francis Lieberman. “They shot machine guns, mortars – goddamn, they used everything.” An entire squad was mowed down in moments; the rest of George Company scrambled for any available cover.
[A] little defilade was our only cover. We laid out there on that beach for what seemed like days. Our feet were almost in the water. They were machine-gunning the whole line. The bullets were hitting on our heels. If they'd been able to shoot a little higher, they'd have had us all.
[The First Platoon] bellied our way out of that thing. Two guys were head shot. "Stay down!" we said. "Stay down!" They got curious. Bang – through the head.
George Company suffered seven fatal casualties on the sandspit; of these, five belonged to the Second Platoon. The two KIAs from First Platoon were likely Privates Maassen and Stewart. PFC Ozzie DePasquale nearly joined his friends in death as he climbed above the defilade to fire his Browning Automatic Rifle. He was hit in the head by shrapnel, but survived to be evacuated. DePasquale received the Silver Star Medal for gallantry at the Matanikau.
Burial Information or Disposition
According to unit records, the Marines who fell in the failed attack across the Matanikau were buried on the west end of the sandspit “about 1,000 yards west of a road along beach at Guadalcanal.” However, the western bank of the Matanikau remained under Japanese control – and would be the scene of more fierce fighting in the months to come. As George Company veteran Ed Newell recalled:
To be honest, his body, and those of the other killed may have washed to sea during the night after the attack. If his body was recovered and buried on the sand spit, it would have been buried within just a few yards above high tide, and of course over the years anything could have happened to it.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. Orville Stewart
Location Of Loss
Mouth of the Matanikau River, Guadalcanal. The sandspit present during the war has long since vanished.
