Louis Bernard Beck
Second Lieutenant Louis B. Beck served with Easy Company, Second Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number O-19364
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
December 2, 1919
at Cincinnati, OH
Parents
Louis B. Beck, Sr. (d. 1930)
Elizabeth (Rehme) Beck
Education
Roger Bacon High School (1937)
University of Cincinnati (1941)
Occupation & Employer
Collector of Internal Revenue (IRS)
Service Life
Entered Service
December 1942 (enlisted)
February 24, 1943 (officer)
at Quantico, VA
Home Of Record
2905 Boudinot Avenue
Cincinnati, OH
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Elizabeth R. Beck
Military Specialty
Platoon Leader
Primary Unit
E/2/2nd Marines
Campaigns Served
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
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Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Second Lieutenant Louis Beck served as a junior platoon leader with E/2/2nd Marines during the battle of Tarawa. On 20 November 1943, his battalion was tasked with leading the assault on Betio’s Beach Red 2.
Lieutenant Beck would have led his platoon towards the western edge of the beach, close to a heavily defended area known as “the Pocket.” Casualties in Easy Company were extremely heavy; of 167 men who attempted to land, 64 were killed and scores more wounded. Five of the six company officers lost their lives.
Beck died on 20 November, likely in the first few moments of his first combat experience. An anonymous comrade wrote the following eulogy to Mrs. Elizabeth Beck:
Every day Lou would work in the field with his men, insisted they were the best men in the whole regiment, and would do anything for them. I knew Lou very well and if anyone went straight to heaven, he did. That boy was a saint when he died.
He's peaceful now. He's home. He always insisted he was a 'home boy' and where else is home, complete contentment, than where he is now? He died as he lived, bravely. None of us could ask for more."
Burial Information or Disposition
No information recorded; remains not recovered.
A memorial marker was erected in Cemetery 33, Grave 2, Row 2, Plot 16.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Beck.
Location Of Loss
Lieutenant Beck was killed in action in the vicinity of Betio’s Beach Red 2.
