Leonard Earl Bibee

Leonard Bibee was born in Robertson County, Tennessee on 10 March 1922. His father, Bonnie Clifton “Tip” Bibee, was a combat-wounded veteran of the Great War. Tip, Louise, and Leonard moved to Allensville, Kentucky in the 1920s, and over the next decade welcomed Martha Bell, James Clifton, and William “Billie” Bibee.

Tip supported his family by working in a blacksmith shop. As the oldest child, Leonard went to work when he was of age, doing odd jobs for farmers in Todd County. In 1942, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Leonard helped construct Camp Campbell. That summer, as Leonard filled out his Selective Service registration, the first cadres of soldiers arrived for training.

Despite his proximity to an Army base – and his family’s service history – Leonard opted to join the Marine Corps. He traveled to Nashville, Tennessee and enlisted on 9 November 1942. Immediately after completing boot camp at Parris Island, Private Bibee was assigned to duty with Company E, Second Battalion, 9th Marines.

Bibee deployed overseas in January 1943. He spent time in camps in New Zealand and on Guadalcanal, training constantly for combat. On 1 November 1943, he participated in his first combat landing at Cape Torokina, Bougainville.

On 7 November 1943, 1Lt. Thomas Hunter, Jr. led a 22-man reconnaissance patrol out from Easy Company lines towards Piva Village. Their job was to scout Japanese positions around the village itself and explore up the Piva/Numa Numa Trail, the main thoroughfare in the area. As they departed, the Marines little suspected they would soon earn some little-sought fame as a “Lost Patrol.”

The mission reached its initial objective without incident – but as they prepared to return, “movements ahead indicated a Japanese ambush” in the words of a combat correspondent. The Marines spread out, and PFC Alston Langston drew first blood when he out-drew a Japanese soldier.

“A Jap machine gun nest opened fire at three Marines, killing one,” continued the correspondent. “The other two… cut loose with automatic rifles, silencing the nest. One weaponless Marine was killed while trying to cut a path for the patrol. Marines killed the two Japs who fired on him.” The Japanese attempted to encircle the Americans, but Marine marksmen picked them off one by one. Lieutenant Hunter claimed his men accounted for no less than 22 Japanese.

The Marines killed near Piva Village were Private Leonard Bibee and Private Ralph F. Gray. Neither man’s body could be carried to friendly lines as the patrol, split into two halves by the Japanese attack, was hard-pressed to find their way back. Occasional firefights broke out as the withdrawing Marines bumped into other Japanese outposts. Private Don DeLaney was killed at 1300 hours; Sergeant Jack D. Burton and PFC Leuin L. David, Jr., were shot in a skirmish at 1700; PFC Edwin A. Pesek died of bullet wounds at 1715. All bodies were left where they fell.

Lieutenant Hunter brought his survivors to safety on 8 November. Four other Marines, led by Sgt. Howard Meyers, soon after. Two men – Private Elbert Alexander and Private James Pitts – did not return, and were never seen again. They had disappeared into the jungle, and their exact fates were never known.

Over the following weeks, the bodies of Burton, David, DeLaney, Pesek, and Petersen were found along the Piva Trail. Burton and Petersen were brought back to the Bougainville cemetery, while the other three received temporary field burials along the trail. When the area was fully secured in early 1944, Graves Registration personnel retrieved David, DeLaney, and Pesek.

The remains of Bibee, Gray, Alexander, and Pitts were never positively identified.

“Private Bibee was serving on a patrol where he was ambushed by enemy forces who were concealed on both sides of the trail which he was following. He was observed by PFC [Mark V.] Ruckel and Pvt. Robert Shaw, who were members of his patrol, to receive direct fire from enemy machine guns and rifles from a distance of approximately ten yards. Entry on Certificate of Death states remains not found. The above action took place in the vicinity of Piva Village, Bougainville. When this area was reoccupied by American forces the body could not be found.”
– Quatermaster Form 371, Bibee Individual Deceased Personnel File

CENOTAPHS
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial