James William Hedrick, Jr.
PFC James W. Hedrick, Jr. served with Easy Company, Second Battalion, 8th Marines.
He was killed in the accidental sinking of LCT-988 in the Hawaiian Islands on 15 May 1944.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 820622
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
Based on circumstances of loss, this individual is considered permanently non-recoverable.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
July 27, 1923
at Mercedes, TX
Parents
James William Hedrick, Sr.
Margaret Lillian (McCollom) Hedrick (d. 1939)
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
February 20, 1943
at San Antonio, TX
Home Of Record
1707 Broadway Street
San Antonio, TX
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. James Hedrick Sr.
Military Specialty
Squad Leader (MOS 653)
Primary Unit
E/2/8th Marines
Campaigns Served
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
—
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
In May 1944, the Second Marine Division conducted amphibious landing practice in the Hawaiian Islands in preparation for the invasion of Saipan. Among the vessels participating in the exercise was Landing Ship Tank (LST) 485, with Easy Company, 8th Marines embarked. On her deck, the LST carried the smaller LCT-988, which had been specially modified to carry heavy mortars. Troop accommodations on LSTs were famously cramped and uncomfortable; in the sweltering Hawaiian heat, many men preferred to sleep in the open air. On the trip from Māʻalaea Bay to Pearl Harbor, dozens set up camp inside LCT-988, braving strong winds and rough seas that began to blow after nightfall.
The swells increased, pitching the flat-bottomed LSTs considerably and straining the cargo lashed to their decks. At 0219, the chains holding LCT-988 in place gave way, and the craft pitched overboard into the sea, injuring eight Marines on the deck and causing considerable damage. “Forty enlisted men of the Eighth Marines, seven enlisted of Naval Medical Eighth Marines, twelve enlisted Navy crew of LST-988 and officer in charge of LCT” found themselves in the Pacific Ocean. One survivor recalled:
The flat bottomed LST rocked back and forth so violently that the straps broke on the stacks of ammunition, falling on the sleeping men. Then the steel cables snapped, releasing the LCT, ripping the large skid beams loose, and the waves washed everything off the deck of the LST's starboard side. The LCT hit the water right-side up, except the ramp was down. I remember a crewman and I were trying to start the engine so that the ramp could be raised. It was then that the trailing LST (LST-29) hit us broadside, flipping the LCT completely upside down. The LCT sank within minutes with those that were still alive going down with the ship.
LST-485 immediately stopped her engines and launched boats to recover those lost overboard. Most of the Marines and sailors managed to escape the foundering LCT; the survivors and a few drowned men were hauled aboard. Seventeen more were lost at sea, never to be seen again.
PFC James Hedrick was one of the Easy Company men who bunked in LCT-988. He was last seen aboard the landing craft before the accident, although initially reported as missing, his status was updated to “died as result of accident” in November 1944.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; remains lost at sea.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. James Hedrick Sr.
Location Of Loss
LCT-988 was rammed and sunk about 26 miles from Kaho‘olawe, Hawaii
