Joseph Alfred Buono
Private Joseph A. Buono was attached to the Marine Detachment, Naval Operating Base Iceland.
He was lost in the sinking of USS Henry R. Mallory on 7 February 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 502019
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
Based on circumstances of loss, this individual is considered permanently non-recoverable.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
September 30, 1924
at Westerly, RI
Parents
Giuseppe “Joseph” Buono
Maria Carmela (Sculco) Buono
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Dock worker
New York Harbor
Service Life
Entered Service
November 13, 1942
at New York, NY
Home Of Record
22 Union Street
Brooklyn, NY
Next Of Kin
Parents, Joseph & Maria Buono
Military Specialty
—
Campaigns Served
—
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
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Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Private Joseph Buono was assigned to the Naval Operating Base, Iceland, as his first duty station after boot camp. He boarded the USS Henry R. Mallory, an ocean liner turned transport, at New York City on 23 January 1943. Mallory carried 494 passengers and crew, plus a cargo of food, clothing, cigarettes, mail, and vehicles bound for Reykjavik. Although capable of reasonably fast speeds, she was assigned to a slow convoy (SC-118) for the dangerous North Atlantic crossing.
At 0659 on 7 February 1943, a single torpedo fired by U-402 hit the Mallory’s #3 hold where the Marines were quartered. An untold number died in the initial explosion and rapid flooding; others managed to scramble topside. Only three of the ship’s ten lifeboats cleared the ship – men jumped overboard into fifty-degree water as the Mallory settled by the stern and slipped from sight.
I woke up to the sound of people yelling and screaming and much confusion. The area was a mess. I do not remember an explosion, and I am not sure if I may have been unconscious for a short period. But I do remember looking in the direction of where I should have been sleeping and there was nothing there. I managed to get on deck and to my assigned lifeboat, but it was gone....
I went to another lifeboat station and got into that boat as it was being lowered. But when we reached the water, no one could figure out how to release it from the lines. Then someone found a hatchet and used that to cut the lines at one end. While passing it to the other end, though, the hatchet was lost over the side. The issue with the lines became moot, however, as we also discovered that the boat was filling with water, since no one had closed the seacock. As the waves lifted the boat, guys would jump out of the lifeboat and back onto the deck of the Mallory.
I was still in the lifeboat when an object landed in the water next to me; I jumped to it. I did not land on it, but did manage to grab hold of it and climb aboard. Once aboard, I realized that it was a life raft and soon it began to rain men who were jumping from the Mallory. When morning came I counted 22 people on board. I think that was more than the raft was designed to carry, since it was riding so low we were almost up to our waists in water. I slipped off the raft once and a couple of the guys pulled me back on board. I remember that two of the persons aboard appeared to be dead.
The Mallory sent no distress calls, fired no rockets, and no order was given to abandon ship. Any rationale for these decisions died with the ship’s master, Captain Horace Weaver. After several hours afloat, the survivors were rescued by Coast Guard Cutters Bibb and Ingham. German U-Boats still haunted the area; the cutters were unable to recover bodies from the sea. Only 222 men survived the sinking – less than half of those aboard.
The torpedo struck in a hold occupied by Marines, probably accounting for the relatively small number of Marines rescued.
Burial Information or Disposition
Body lost at sea. Buono was officially declared dead on 8 February 1944.
I never saw anything like it, wood all over the place and bodies in life jackets ... never saw so many dead fellows in my whole life. Saw lots of mail bags, boxes, wood, wood splinters, empty life jackets, oars, upturned boats, empty life rafts, bodies, parts of bodies, clothes, cork, and a million other things that ships have in them. I hope I never see another drowned man as long as I live.
Memorials
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Cambridgeshire, UK
More information about Private Buono can be found on the Henry R. Mallory Stories page.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of parents, Joseph & Maria Buono
Location Of Loss
The Mallory was torpedoed while en route from Halifax to Reykjavik.
