Lawrence Niklos Mikel
PFC Lawrence N. Mikel served with Item Company, Third Battalion, 8th Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 370970
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
April 25, 1916
at Hillman Township, MN
Parents
John Mikel
Frances (Billmeyer) Mikel
Education
Grammar school
Occupation & Employer
Ice Packer (Railroad)
Western Fruit Express
Service Life
Entered Service
February 20, 1942
at Minneapolis, MN
Home Of Record
Hillman, MN
Next Of Kin
Brother, Mr. John Mikel
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
I/3/8th Marines
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Letter of Commendation (Guadalcanal)
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
PFC Lawerence Mikel served with Item Company, 8th Marines in the Guadalcanal campaign and the battle of Tarawa. He had a reputation for steadiness under fire, and received an official commendation for “the cool, calm manner in which [he] so efficiently performed” during a difficult operation on Guadalcanal.
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 began heading towards Beach Red 3 to support the heavily-engaged BLT 2-8.
Nothing went as planned. Item Company approached in the fourth wave; one boat was hit causing “considerable casualties,” and the rest pulled back and attempted to land on Beach Red 2. They intermingled with the fifth wave, grounded on the coral reef, and once again took casualties. The surviving boats waited in the water outside of small-arms range, and finally managed to disembark the rest of Item Company between 1630 and 1800 hours. Those who reached shore were attached to battered Love Company and participated in an attack south towards the main airfield.
PFC Mikel was one of hundreds of Marines to lose his life on the first day of the battle. He was killed in action by gunshot wounds during the landing operation; no further details of his death are known.
Burial Information or Disposition
Two days after his death, Mikel was reportedly buried in “2nd Marine Division Cemetery #3.” This was a trench dug a few yards inland from Beach Red 3, the scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the battle. Although there was some disagreement about which grave was his – sources differ between #24 and #26 – records including his unit muster roll, Marine Corps casualty card, and Certificate of Death all agree on the cemetery location.
In 1944, Cemetery #3 was “beautified” by the Navy garrison into a memorial monument and re-christened “Cemetery 27.” Individual markers were discarded in favor of a massive wooden cross with a hand-painted tablet bearing the names of twenty-four men buried nearby, plus sixteen “unknowns.” For reasons unknown, Lawrence Mikel’s name was not included.
Cemetery 27 was not rediscovered until 2015, when the non-profit group History Flight conducted an archaeological dig under the parking lot of a Betio-based shipping company. They located the original trench and recovered numerous remains – many of which were originally recorded as buried in Division Cemetery #3. To date, Mikel’s remains have not been identified. He may be awaiting laboratory identification’ post-war erosion and construction may have destroyed any physical trace of his body, or perhaps the original burial records were incorrect and he was never in Cemetery 27 at all.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of brother, Mr. John Miklos.
Location Of Loss
Miklos’ battalion landed at various locations between Beach Red 2 and Red 3.
