John William Gill

Corporal John Gill served with King Company, 8th Marines during the Guadalcanal campaign and in the battle of Tarawa. He was a “cool, calm” individual under fire, and earned a letter of commendation for “the outstanding manner in which [he] performed [his] duties” on a challenging operation in January 1943.

The amphibious assault on Betio, Tarawa atoll – Operation GALVANIC – commenced on 20 November 1943. The Third Battalion, 8th Marines were in reserve for the landing operation, but were ordered to stand by in their LCVPs and were afloat by 1015. At 1200, the battalion’s first wave (which included King Company)  began heading towards Beach Red 3 to support the heavily-engaged BLT 2-8.

Several hundred yards from the beach, the LCVPs slammed into a coral reef and stopped. Ramps went down, and Marines gamely jumped out into water over their heads. Some drowned, while the rest faced “heavy 40mm, machine gun, and mortar fire” that shredded their ranks. Only about a hundred disorganized, demoralized men – less than a company – made it to shore. The King Company survivors were sent to hold the left flank of the Marine line, and endured heavy machine gun and sniper fire for the rest of the day.

Corporal Gill was last seen alive during the landing operation. He was reported as missing in action after the battle; nothing more was ever learned of his whereabouts, and he was later declared dead as of 20 November 1943.