Malcolm John Hogan
Private Malcolm J. “Jack” Hogan served with Charlie Company, First Marine Raider Battalion (Edson’s Raiders).
He was killed reported missing in action after the battle of Edson’s Ridge, Guadalcanal, on 14 September 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 354941
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
May 8, 1920
at Boston, MA
Parents
John T. Hogan
Marion Ruth (Hart) Hogan
Education
Hyde Park High School (1937)
Occupation & Employer
Grocery Clerk
First National Stores
Service Life
Entered Service
January 13, 1942
at Boston, MA
Home Of Record
53 Albany Street
Dorchester, MA
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Marion Hogan
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
C/1st Raider Battalion
Second Platoon
Campaigns Served
Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Private Malcolm “Jack” Hogan served with Company C, 1st Raider Battalion, during the Solomon Islands campaign. He first saw action in the battle for Tulagi in August 1942, and then on the island of Guadalcanal in the weeks that followed – terminating in the chaotic fight that would become known as the “Battle of Edson’s Ridge.”
Hogan was reported as missing in action on 14 September 1942, after the two-day battle ended in a decisive American victory. While the exact specifics surrounding his disappearance are a mystery, it is known he was a member of a Charlie Company platoon on outpost duty. The platoon was attacked and overrun by the Kokusho Battalion on the night of 12 September 1942. Charlie Company suffered heavy casualties, and not all of the remains were recoverable when the battle concluded.
Jack Hogan was officially declared dead on 15 September 1943.
Burial Information or Disposition
None recorded; reported as missing, identifiable remains not recovered.
The Second Platoon leader, John P. “Black Jack” Salmon, recalled visiting the site of the ambush after the battle. “We found three badly decomposed bodies in the near vicinity of Hogan’s position, and although we were positive that the bodies were those of Marines, positive personal identification was impossible.” The final disposition of these remains, and whether or not one may have been Jack Hogan, is not known.
Hogan, or one of his Raider comrades, may have been buried as Unknown X-8 in the First Marine Division Cemetery.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Marion R. Hogan.
Location Of Loss
Private Hogan was killed in action in the vicinity of Edson’s Ridge.