Harold Swanson
Gunnery Sergeant Harold Swanson served with How Company, Second Battalion, 8th Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 234486
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
September 15, 1911
at Chico, CA
Parents
Gus Thurston Swanson
Wendla (Ogren) Swanson
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
March 29, 1932
at San Francisco, CA
Home Of Record
Route 2
Chico, CA
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. Gus T. Swanson
Military Specialty
Gunnery Sergeant
Primary Unit
H/2/8th Marines
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart (Guadalcanal)
with Gold Star (Tarawa)
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Gunnery Sergeant Harold Swanson, a long-time Regular and combat-wounded veteran of Guadalcanal, served as a senior NCO in How Company, 8th Marines during 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.
Gunny Swanson was one of hundreds of Marines to lose his life on the first day of the battle. No details of his final moments are known.
Burial Information or Disposition
“Division Cemetery, Tarawa.” No specific location recorded.
A memorial marker was erected in Cemetery 11, Plot 5, Row 2, Grave 9.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. Gus Swanson.
The Swansons lived on a rural route outside of the town of Chico.
Location Of Loss
Swanson’s battalion landed on and fought in the vicinity of Beach Red 3.