John Silas Spence
Corporal John S. Spence served with Dog Company, First Battalion, 8th Marines.
He was reported killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
*This is an official date of loss; the battalion did not land until 21 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 321292
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
February 4, 1921
at Indianola, OK
Parents
William McKinley Spence
Ella Lavina (Kerr) Spence
Education
Grammar school
Occupation & Employer
General laborer
Service Life
Entered Service
October 2, 1941
at Portland, OR
Home Of Record
Chiloquin, OR
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. William Spence
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
D/1/8th Marines
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Corporal John Spence served with Dog Company, 8th Marines, during the Guadalcanal campaign and the battle for Tarawa.
At midday on 20 November 1943, BLT 1-8 climbed over the sides of their transport ships and boarded LCVPs in Tarawa lagoon. They anticipated imminent landing orders, but due to the desperate situation on the beach were held offshore in their little boats, bobbing in the waves for the rest of the day and a very long night. Early on 21 November, they were ordered to land on Betio’s Beach Red 2.
At 0615, the first waves of 1-8 rushed down the ramps and into the breaking surf on a coral reef some 500 yards from shore. Although friendly troops held the water’s edge, they “immediately came under heavy machine gun fire from both flanks.” The battalion was decimated on the long walk to shore. An action report penned by the 8th Marines noted that “many of the casualties resulted from drowning, due to the heavy packs and equipment men attempted to take across the submerged fringing reef.”
The Dog Company Marines, many of them weighed down by crew-serviced weapons and heavy ammunition, were especially hard-hit during the landings. One of the men who fell around this time was Corporal Spence. When the battle ended, he was reported as killed in action – the cause and specifics, however, are not known. Although his battalion did not land until D+1, Spence’s official date of death is given as 20 November 1943.
Burial Information or Disposition
Corporal Spence is one of a handful of D/1/8 Marines with specific burial information. On the morning of 22 November – D-plus-2 – Chaplain Warren Wyeth Willard of the 8th Marines oversaw the creation of “US Navy and Marine Corps Cemetery #1” on Betio. This cemetery eventually expanded to three rows and 119 graves. The man buried in Row B, Grave 35, was identified as “SPENCE 321292.”
In 1944, the area was rebuilt and “beautified” into a memorial Cemetery 26. A regulation white cross with John Spence’s name was placed in Plot 4, Row 1, Grave 1. However, the new markers were in no way aligned with the original burial trenches – and when the remains were exhumed in 1946, identification was extremely difficult.
At present, a significant number of remains recovered from Cemetery 26 are still unidentified. Until recently, these were all interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific; today, they are awaiting additional laboratory results under the supervision of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. If the original burial information is correct, there is a chance that John Spence is among them.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. William M. Spence.
Location Of Loss
Corporal Spence’s battalion landed in the vicinity of Beach Red 2, Betio.
