John Wilson Hoffman, Jr.

John Hoffman Junior was born in the little town of Lott, Texas on 23 July 1922. Early in his life, his family – which included parents J. W. and Sadie Hoffman, plus older siblings Orvil, Lorena, and Marie – moved to Houston, where John Junior grew up and attended school. He graduated from Stephen F. Austin High with the class of 1940, and went to work for the Lindle Air Products Company as a shipping clerk.

In August of 1942, the twenty-year-old Hoffman enlisted in the Marine Corps at a Houston recruiting office. He finished boot camp that October, and was assigned to the First Battalion, 18th Marines – the engineering regiment of the 2nd Marine Division. After a brief training and organizational period at Camp Elliott, California, the 18th shipped out for New Zealand and eventually arrived at Camp Paekakariki.

While the 18th Marines were not slated to join the ongoing battle for Guadalcanal, the 6th Marines was gearing up and needed extra men to fill their ranks. In mid-December, several dozen engineers – including Private Hoffman – were transferred to the 6th Marines. Hoffman was assigned to a squad in Company L, but was not with them for long. On the afternoon of 20 December, his NCOs noticed that Hoffman was missing. When the 6th Marines sailed for the Solomon Islands, Hoffman was declared a “straggler.” He was not seen again until 7 January 1943, when he surrendered at Wellington’s Central Park Police Station.

When L/3/6 returned from Guadalcanal in late February 1943, Private Hoffman was waiting at Camp Russell – one can imagine the cold reception he received from the combat veterans. He was restricted to camp as the rest of his company enjoyed furloughs in town during the month of March, and in April was belatedly court-martialed for missing his ship. The sentence was heavy – thirty days confinement on bread and water and forfeiting $15 out of his pay for three months – but had the desired effect. Once out of the brig, Hoffman stayed out of trouble and applied himself to his training. His change was so dramatic that he even earned a promotion to Private First Class, which ordinarily might have been delayed due to his disciplinary infractions. When the time came to ship out for the next operation, PFC Hoffman was present and ready to join his buddies in battle.

The 6th Marines were designated as the 2nd Marine Division’s reserve for the battle of Tarawa and did not receive orders to land until late on 21 November 1943. While the First Battalion paddled ashore in rubber boats, the Third Battalion waited aboard their landing craft for orders to proceed. Unfortunately, their guide vehicles – a pair of amphibious tractors – were destroyed by mines during the BLT 1-6 landing, and instead of risking additional casualties in the darkness, BLT 3-6 waited for daylight. They were ordered to land on the northern end of Green Beach, and waded ashore at low tide. According to battalion commander LtCol. Kenneth F. McLeod, the bulk of BLT 3-6 was ashore by 1400 hours on 22 November.

Hoffman’s Company L was kept in reserve for all of their first day on Betio. On the morning of 23 November, the battalion relieved their tired comrades in 1/6 to continue – and conclude – the attack against the final Japanese resistance on eastern Betio.

At some point during the day’s action, PFC Hoffman was shot in the chest and killed. His body was carried over to a burial trench and laid down with nearly thirty other members of the 6th Marines. The survivors marked the graves as best they could, but in the months and years following the battle, the gravesite was lost. In 1949, all the men buried there – including PFC Hoffman – were declared non-recoverable.

The “Row D” burial site went undiscovered until the spring of 2019, when an archaeological expedition led by non-profit organization History Flight excavated the site and recovered human remains.

Original burial records placed PFC Hoffman as #19 in Row D. He was identified from the History Flight recovery and officially accounted for on 9 April 2020.

CENOTAPHS
Honolulu Memorial, Tablets of the Missing

FINAL BURIAL
South Park Cemetery, Pearland, Texas