Mervin Earl Beckett
Private Mervin E. Beckett served with Battery P, Fifth Battalion, 11th Marines.
He was killed in action at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 14 October 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 327025
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
April 15, 1924
at Sault Ste. Marie, MI
Parents
William Alexander Beckett
Wilhelmina Frances (Wise) Beckett
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
October 20, 1941
at Detroit, MI
Home Of Record
535 Rosewood Avenue
Pontiac, MI
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. William A. Beckett
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
P/5/11th Marines
Campaigns Served
Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On the night of 13-14 October 1942, Japanese battleships Kongo and Haruna cruised along the north coast of Guadalcanal, flinging shells at Henderson Field. The area around the airfield was saturated with shrapnel; even the deepest dugouts collapsed under the impact of the massive 14-inch projectiles. The artillerymen of Fifth Battalion, 11th Marines were particularly hard hit at 0230 when naval shells landed in their camp area. Eleven Marines died of shrapnel wounds or the effects of blast concussion.
Eighteen-year-old Private Mervin Earl Beckett was one of those killed in the bombardment.
Burial Information or Disposition
When daylight broke over Guadalcanal, the dead were brought to the First Marine Division Cemetery near Henderson Field. Aviators, infantrymen, pilots, and artillerists were buried in Rows 29 through 32. Private Beckett was reportedly interred in Grave 7, Row 31.
For reasons that are not entirely clear, the remains initially buried as Beckett’s were declared unidentifiable after the war, and re-designated as Unknown X-347. In a rather unusual turn, neither the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) nor the X-file provide any information regarding the decision. Beckett’s casualty card notes that his family expected to receive his body – and made arrangements with a local funeral home – only to be disappointed; this indicates that the Central Identification Laboratory in Honolulu (CILH) issued the decision. Their reasoning is unknown at this time.
Unknown X-347 is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Section D, Grave 344.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. William Beckett
Location Of Loss
Beckett was killed and buried in the vicinity of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal.
