Harold Lee Benfield
PFC Harold L. Benfield served with George Battery, Third Battalion, 14th Marines.
He was reported missing in action at Ennuebing (Jacob Island), Kwajalein atoll, on 31 January 1944.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 815445
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
November 10, 1923
at Charlotte, NC
Parents
William Arthur Benfield
Vada Violet (Brackett) Benfield
Education
Charlotte Technical High School
Occupation & Employer
Goode Construction Company
Service Life
Entered Service
February 18, 1943
at Raleigh, NC
Home Of Record
929 East 4th Street
Charlotte, NC
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Vada Benfield
Military Specialty
Artilleryman
Primary Unit
14th Marines (G/3)
Campaigns Served
Marshall Islands / North Kwajalein
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On 31 January 1944, battalions of the 14th Marines (Artillery) made amphibious landings on small islets in northern Kwajalein. The batteries followed close on the heels of assaulting infantry; once secured, the artillerymen would set up their weapons and prepare for fire missions against the larger Japanese bases on nearby islands Roi and Namur. The Third Battalion, armed with 75mm howitzers, was assigned to Ennuebing (codenamed “Jacob”) and would ride ashore in LVTs from Company A, 11th Amphibian Tractor Battalion.
A LVT could carry a 75mm pack howitzer with a small supply of ammunition, its tools, and a skeleton crew to operate the weapon. Even this load proved troublesome in the rough seas around Kwajalein, and collective inexperience – this was the first battle for nearly all Marines – led to several accidents.
Heavy surf around “Jacob” claimed at least one LVT2 during the infantry assault, and conditions were no better when the artillery was ordered to land. To make matters worse, as the 14th Marines operation report noted:
The LVTs were debarked from LSTs from 6000 to 12000 yards offshore. This was unsatisfactory as the landing was delayed unduly. Two LVTs overturned in the surf in landing. Four men were killed, two howitzers and accessories lost.
A stranded landing craft, LCI(L) 450, helped pull survivors from the water; she reported four tractors capsized and brought 48 men aboard, about half of whom were members of G Battery. Privates First Class Joseph P. Garvey, Charles J. Nelson, and Henry A. Plunges were recovered from the surf, but PFC Harold Lee Benfield disappeared beneath the waves. These four men were the first combat casualties in the history of the 14th Marines.
Benfield was officially reported as missing in action after the landings, and declared dead on 1 February 1945.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; remains not recovered.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Vada Benfield.
At the time of Harold’s death, his father was stationed at Camp Craig, Alabama.
Location Of Loss
PFC Benfield was last seen in the vicinity of Ennuebing, Kwajalein Atoll.
