Harvey Clement Hall

On 21 November, the 164th and 182nd Infantry Regiments pushed westward along Guadalcanal’s north coast and took positions on ridges beyond Point Cruz. A gap developed between 3/164 and 2/182, and General Edmund Sebree requested a Marine unit to connect the two battalions. Easy Company, 8th Marines was tapped for the task and moved out at approximately 1700 hours. Reports of sniper activity only arrived after they departed, and the route itself was extremely difficult. “Due to the rough terrain, it was 2200 before this company was in position covering this gap,” noted the regiment’s report. Easy Company reported three men killed and seven wounded during the night of 21-22 November.

In the morning, the rest of 2/8 crossed the Matanikau River and took up positions in assembly areas behind the Army regiments. While few enemy contacts were reported, Easy and Fox Companies suffered several additional casualties. One of the dead was a Navy corpsman, Pharmacist’s Mate 2c Harvey C. Hall.  According to a letter from Marine Gunner Arthur O. Fitz, “Harvey was killed by gunfire on Nov. 22, 1942, when he went forward to the aid of a wounded Marine. This action was beyond the usual call of duty and amply demonstrated the courage and willingness to succor the wounded in a manner customary to a man of his chosen calling.”

While Hall was nominally attached to 2/8’s Headquarters company, the location of his burial suggests he was assigned to Easy Company at the time of his death.