Joseph Francis Kashuba, Jr.
Corporal Joseph F. “Frank” Kashuba, Jr. served with the division intelligence (D-2) section of the 1st Marine Division.
He was reported missing in action from the “Goettge Patrol” at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 13 August 1942
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 291708
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
November 2, 1917
at Duryea, PA
Parents
Joseph F. Kashuba, Sr.
Rose (Platukas) Kashuba
Education
Details unknown.
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown.
Service Life
Entered Service
August 16, 1940
at Philadelphia, PA
Home Of Record
1915 K Street, Apt. 408
Washington, DC
Next Of Kin
Wife, Mrs. Ann Kashuba
(married 5 May 1942)
Military Specialty
Combat Intelligence
Photo-Lithographer
Primary Unit
HQ Company, 1MarDiv
D-2 Section
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
“Corporal Joseph Kashuba was loud and fast and tough,” recalled Lieutenant Thayer Soule, “the old school through and through.” The mercurial NCO, “blond and scrappy” with a prominent “Death Before Dishonor” tattoo, was one of the 1st Marine Division’s most promising young intelligence specialists. Already “a scout of some experience,” he was trained in photo-lithography prior to the Guadalcanal campaign, and his primary job was turning aerial photographs into badly-needed maps. Lieutenant Soule deemed Kashuba one of the best lithographers in the D-2 section.
On the afternoon of 12 August 1942, Colonel Frank B. Goettge – the 1st Marine Division intelligence officer (D-2) – ordered a reconnaissance patrol of an area west of Point Cruz. Goettge was led to believe that the local Japanese garrison was starving and wanted to surrender; he hoped to capture prisoners and simultaneously scout and map the area beyond the Marine perimeter. To accomplish this mission, the colonel gathered two dozen trained specialists and placed himself in command.
The patrol was a disaster from the outset. After departing Kukum in total darkness, the Marines landed in the wrong place – and after grounding their boat on a sandbar, came ashore just west of the Matanikau River. A determined Japanese guard force pinned the patrol on the beach near Horahi Village, and picked off the Marines one by one. Only three managed to escape to the safety of American lines.
Corporal Kashuba was reported as missing in action when the patrol failed to return to safety. Officially, nothing more was ever learned of Goettge’s men, and all were eventually declared dead as of 14 August 1943.
Burial Information or Disposition
The fate of the Goettge Patrol was known only too well to the Marines on Guadalcanal – especially members of the 5th Marines, who made numerous patrols and fought a battle over the same area. Dismembered body parts were seen strewn about the riverbanks, and a burial trench was later found near Horahi itself. However, due to the conditions of battle, none of the remains could be recovered – and later campaigning and construction eventually obliterated all physical traces of the Goettge Patrol.
[A patrol from K/3/5th Marines] found Goettge’s men on the east bank of the river.
The smell came first, “a scent that those of us who were there can recall in an instant,” said Sergeant Thurman Miller. “What lay beneath the foliage was no longer human.… Sticking out of the sand was a boot, containing the foot of its owner. I scraped in the sand and uncovered another legging with the leg still in it.”
“The first thing I saw was the severed head of a Marine,” recalled Sergeant Jim McEnery. “I almost let out a yell because the head was moving back and forth in the water and looked like it was alive. Then I realized it was just bobbing in the small waves lapping at the shore. They would wash it up onto the sand a few inches, then it would float back out again when the waves receded.” Their shocked eyes beheld parts strewn in every direction as they slowly worked across the sandspit. The ragged stump of a leg sporting a neatly laced boondocker. A headless, armless torso still clad in a first sergeant’s shirt. Less identifiable pieces floated in the water or lay fly-covered and rotting in the sand. Some men began to retch, but most stood stock still in horrified silence. “No one spoke,” recalled Miller. “Not a word. Some things are better left unsaid.”
The Goettge Patrol has been the object of multiple expeditions and digs over the decades, but so far none have been successful.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of wife, Mrs. Ann Kashuba.
Cpl. Kashuba formerly resided with his parents at RFD#2, Meshoppen, PA
Location Of Loss
The Goettge Patrol was ambushed near the western bank of the Matanikau.
Gallery
Goettge Patrol Casualties
Missing in action 12-13 August 1942.
Leaving Mac Behind: The Lost Marines of Guadalcanal
Frank Few lay in his foxhole, wishing the daylight away. Warm seawater swirled into his foxhole, turning pinkish as it mingled with the blood seeping from his chest and arm. Sand was everywhere—stuck to the Japanese blood on his clothes, in his eyes, in the Reising gun he borrowed from Monk and which would only fire single shots. Few counted out his remaining rounds and stuffed them into his mouth to keep the sand and salt water away. Occasionally, a bullet snapped
overhead, as if he needed a reminder to keep his head down.
Trapped in a flooding foxhole, wounded, almost out of ammunition, with the sun coming up. It could not get much worse: “The hell with this for a lark,” he thought.
Read more about the Goettge Patrol in "Leaving Mac Behind."
Click the cover for details.
Thank you for all the hard work you are putting into this site. I have been looking for biographical information regarding the members of the Goettge Patrol for several years. In magazine articles and other websites the Colonel’s name was always mentioned of course, but there was never any mention of the other members of the Patrol. Just to let you know, the link to Aaron Gelzer keeps showing the article on Joseph Kashuba. Thanks again.
David – thank you for the note and for the correction. I figured each of these men suffered as much if not more than the Colonel, and it’s a shame that their names are often forgotten. I wish I could have found more pictures of them, but so it goes. If you’re looking for anything in particular in your research, let me know and I’ll be happy to help out.
The book “Hell in the Pacific” by Jim McEnery (a veteran of K/3/5th Marines) mentions the aftermath of the patrol in horrifying detail, as the author was a member of one of the patrols that found the butchered remains of the patrol several days later. McEnery describes how his patrol was ordered not to bother the remains but instead mark the location for a burial detail to follow. From his account it seems extremely unlikely that any of their remains will ever be recovered, meaning that their names are all we will have to remember.
Cheers,
Geoff
I just found this web site and I am very impressed with your information on the Goettge Patrol. I have done extensive research on the patrol and conducted detailed interviews with all three survivors (now deceased) as well as interviewing many officers and men of the 5th Marines and division HQ. Also, I interviewed USN officers and men too. I have travelled several times to the site of the battle (Matanikau) and wrote an in depth article on all of this for Naval History Magazine. I participated on an unsuccesful military recovery mission that searched for the remains on Guadalcanal. I also knew Stan Jersey and gave him quite a bit of my information for his book. It still amazes me to see new information surface on the patrol. My intent is to expand my article into a short book, but I need a few more pieces to complete the puzzle.
SF.
Joe Mueller
My grandpa was Joesph Kashuba brother
He was my Grandmas brother. Her name was Rosalie Kashuba.
Can you tell me if Joseph Kashuba was a resident of Duryea, Pa.?
Hi Lois,
Yes, it appears he was born in Duryea, PA. (It’s been a while since I created this page and I haven’t updated for some time.) Evidently he went by “Frank Kashuba” to distinguish himself from his father, Joseph Senior.
At some point before the war, the Kashubas moved to Meshoppen, Pennsylvania; Joseph enlisted from Wilkes-Barre. However, on casualty reports he is listed as a resident of Washington, D. C. This is because his wife (whom he married in May 1942, just before going overseas) was living there, at 1915 K Street NW.
Hope this helps!
Geoffrey
Yes. Joseph Kashuba was my grandma’s brother. My grandma (Mary Kashuba Brown) grew up there.