John Michael Langdon
Private John M. “Boondocks” Langdon served with Charlie Company, First Marine Raider Battalion (Edson’s Raiders).
He was killed in action while attempting to escape an ambush during the battle of Edson’s Ridge, Guadalcanal.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 362569
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
February 19, 1922
in Boston, MA
Parents
John M. Langdon (d. 1934)
Elizabeth L. (Mathi) Langdon
Education
Mission Church High School
Occupation & Employer
Telegram Messenger
Service Life
Entered Service
January 22, 1942
at Boston, MA
Home Of Record
14 Fenwick Street
Roxbury, MA
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Langdon
Military Specialty
—
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Private John M. Langdon served with Company C, 1st Raider Battalion, during the Solomon Islands campaign. He first saw action in the battle for Tulagi in August 1942, and then on the island of Guadalcanal in the weeks that followed. On the night of 12 September, Japanese forces launched a ferocious attack against Raider positions surrounding a steep ridge overlooking Henderson Field. This initial assault pushed Charlie Company back towards the ridge; a platoon was overrun, and a Marine was captured and tortured to death. The survivors spent the next day scraping together a new defensive line under occasional sniper fire, knowing all the while that the Japanese would return in force once night fell.
As evening approached, a small team consisting of Sergeant John “Squeaky” Morrell, PFC James Mallamas, Private John J. Redden, and Private “Boondocks” Langdon was “voluntold” to set up a listening post about a hundred yards forward of the company line. Carrying their personal weapons and a field telephone, the grumbling group found some cover but had no time to dig in before the Japanese approached. “We could head the devils breaking brush as they worked their way towards us,” recalled Mallamas. “We relayed this information to the rear and were told to try to see or ascertain how many…. This was answered with, ‘They are in front and to our flanks in depth,’ due to the noise of their jabber, feet, and equipment slapping bodies while they broke through the jungle in a fast walk or run.”
This was the last communication sent by the listening post. The phone suddenly went dead, and Mallamas realized that a Japanese soldier had cut the line and was probably following it to their position. He pulled in twenty-five feet of cable before finding the break: the enemy was very close.
Finally, the artillery opened up. I thanked them for those rounds. Right into our positions, shells began going off, it seemed on 25-foot centers. But my buddies and I were so happy to hear and feel those blasts, as finally we were able to hit the deck. We knew that if we moved one muscle, the Japs about us would hear where we were and would open up. We didn’t have to wait long, as about the tenth round came in on top of us, burying into the ground before exploding and making a nice hole. Most of the shells were bursting in the trees and flinging shrapnel all over the area. We were all knocked out from the burst – I don’t know how long, possibly only minutes, but anyway, I remember crawling only a few feet before finding this shell hole some three feet deep and possibly ten feet wide. Getting my senses back, I started looking and feeling about the outside of the hole and was able to locate the other three of our party. Both Squeaky and Redden were all right, but Boondocks had an awful wound in his right leg, a foot above his knee. I tore his trousers away from the wound and placed two of our field dressings over the wound, which had a chunk of steel as big as your hand half protruding from his leg. Still, he bled very little and never complained of any pain.
The stranded Raiders sheltered in the shell hole all night, weathering artillery from both sides and waiting for Japanese troops to discover their hiding place. As morning approached, they decided to try to reach friendly lines, but found themselves surrounded by enemy forces. Under the cover of fog and smoke, they managed to slip past one of the Japanese groups and found themselves on the shore of a lagoon. Morrell and Redden broke to the right, while Mallamas and Langdon bore to the left, searching for a way to the opposite bank just thirty feet away. “We had planned to cross immediately,” Mallamas continued, “but were not able to cross the open area of the lagoon before they set up positions directly above us. We held our weapons above the water for what seemed like an hour or so. I know I held that BAR over my head until my arms were in a fixed, numb position.” A crocodile took hungry interest in the Marines, but was distracted by Mallamas throwing a pepperoni stick in the opposite direction.
Suddenly, a Japanese soldier carrying an armload of canteens appeared just feet away. He spotted Redden and dropped the canteens, but Redden got a round off and the Japanese toppled into the lagoon next to Langdon, blood spurting from his neck. At that moment, “All hell broke loose,” according to Mallamas.
I slipped into the jungle and knew I was on my own from that point on….
Mallamas wandered the jungle for several days before stumbling into friendly lines. He was pleased to learn that Morrell and Redden returned safely, and confirmed the death of “Boondocks” Langdon out in the lagoon.
All James Mallamas quotes are from”My Memories of the Battle of Bloody Ridge,” transcribed by Gloria Mallamas in A Marine’s Letters (Trafford Publishing, 2012), 424-426
Burial Information or Disposition
While no remains identifiable as Private Langdon were recovered from the battlefield, he – or one of his Raider comrades – may have been buried as Unknown X-8 in the First Marine Division Cemetery.
Postwar searches turned up no clues about Langdon’s whereabouts. Inexplicably, Graves Registration reports indicate that the teams were searching the Matanikau river mouth instead of along the Lunga River, and probably were nowhere near the correct site.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Louise Langdon.
Location Of Loss
Private Langdon was killed in action in the vicinity of Edson’s Ridge.
