John William Stump
PFC John W. “Billy” Stump served with Fox Company, Second Battalion, 7th Marines.
He was killed in action at the Metapona River, Guadalcanal, on 3 November 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 283622
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
August 16, 1921
at Honaker, VA
Parents
Rosie Lee (Stump) Mills
stepfather, Harry Eugene Mills
biological father not known
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
April 18, 1940
at Washington, DC
Home Of Record
Fairfax, VA
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Rosie L. Mills
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
F/2/7th Marines
Campaigns Served
Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On 2 November 1942, the Second Battalion, 7th Marines were ordered out to the Koli Point area east of Henderson Field to intercept a possible Japanese landing. After a day-long march, they crossed the Metapona River and took up concealed positions along the shoreline to await the enemy. The hunch was right; a sizable force did land, but 2/7 was unable to contact the main perimeter due to radio interference. A firefight broke out at dawn on 3 November and quickly coalesced on positions held by Fox Company, 7th Marines. Unable to call for reinforcements and with ammunition running low, LtCol. Herman H. Hanneken opted to conduct a fighting withdrawal back across the Metapona River.
Altogether, 2/7th Marines recorded 23 wounded, one “missing (believed killed)” (PFC John Gnorik) and one killed in action: PFC John “Billy” Stump, who lost his life to shrapnel wounds.
Burial Information or Disposition
Although Hanneken’s report noted that “dead and wounded were evacuated by Higgins boat” back to the Lunga perimeter, it appears that PFC Stump’s body was left at the battlefield “in vicinity of (115.7-80.5) East Coast Guadalcanal.”
Unfortunately, the 7th Marines were operating with “D-2 Map #3” (which was specially prepared for their use), and not the standard Map 104. Post-war searchers plotted the area as “1000 yards south of airfield just forward of the front lines at Lunga Ridge”– approximately the area where several members of the First Raider Battalion were killed at Edson’s Ridge, and nowhere near the Metapona area. Even sketches included in Gnorik and Stump’s files failed to provide usable clues.
It is not known how close search parties ever came to the graves of the Fox Company Marines. Neither have been accounted for.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
The Mills family lived on a rural route outside Fairfax, VA.
Location Of Loss
Stump was killed in action near the mouth of the Metapona River.
