Norman Alfred Buan

Norman Buan was born on 26 June 1916 in Radville, a small town in Canada’s Saskatchewan province. His father, Albert Hjalmar Buan, farmed the land, while Annie Oyen Buan kept house, raising Edna, Norman, and Ellsworth. Like many families in their community, the Buans spoke Norwegian at home and attended services at Radville United Lutheran Church.

Albert and Annie were not native Norwegians – or even native Canadians. In 1925, they left Radville and returned to their hometown of Little Sauk, Minnesota. Norman and his siblings (which included Oliver and Gladys after the move) grew up in rural Todd County, on a farm in Round Prairie Township. Unfortunately, Albert died suddenly in 1931, leaving Annie with a farm to run and a large family to raise. In 1935, she married Albert Lee Hackett – a widower with his own large family.

Norman was a farmer through and through. He left school after completing the eighth grade and went immediately to work. By 1940, at the age of twenty-three, he was renting his own place on Township Road and farming full time. That same year, he registered for Selective Service.

Norman joined the Marine Corps at Minneapolis on 24 November 1942, and after completing boot camp at MCRD San Diego was assigned to duty with the Service Company at Marine Barracks, Camp Elliott. He spent the spring of 1943 at the barracks, and in the summer transferred to the camp’s Infantry Battalion Training Center. This training prepared him for overseas deployment, and within a few weeks Buan was sailing for New Zealand with the 26th Replacement Draft.

Norman marked two important milestones shortly before leaving the United States. The first was his promotion to Private First Class. The second, and more memorable, was his admission as a United States citizen on 20 July 1943.

Buan joined Company B, First Battalion, 2nd Marines on 10 October 1943 – just one week before they boarded the USS Harry Lee for a complicated set of amphibious landing rehearsals. In early November, they set sail for an unknown destination. Rumors swirled about heading for combat, and PFC Buan – who barely knew the men he now called comrades – must have felt a mixture of excitement and trepidation at the thought.

On 20 November 1943, the First Battalion 2nd Marines was assigned as the regimental reserve for units landing on Beaches Red One and Red Two. The assault waves were subjected to devastating fire from the moment they crossed the island’s coral reef, and suffered heavy casualties while coming ashore and on the beach itself. By 1030, the reserve units were struggling towards the beach themselves and making a tough landing under fire.

PFC Buan was one of the first to fall. At some point during the landings, or shortly thereafter, he was killed by a gunshot wound to the head. He was 27 years old.

Two days later, Norman Buan was reportedly buried in the Central Division Cemetery – either in Row 3 Grave 78, or Row B Grave 77.

When PFC Buan’s burial ground (re-designated as Cemetery 26) was exhumed by Graves Registration personnel in 1947, his remains were not among those identified. Nor could the technicians at the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii provide any further clues. He was declared non-recoverable in 1949.

In 2014, non-profit organization History Flight sent a team to conduct a series of archaeological digs on the island of Betio. They focused on the area of Cemetery 26 in hopes of recovering remains overlooked by Graves Registration personnel long ago. The mission uncovered numerous body parts, as well as some nearly complete skeletons.

After laboratory analysis with modern identification methods – including anthropological analysis and a matching DNA sample submitted by a relative – the remains of Norman Alfred Buan were finally identified. He was formally accounted for on 27 August 2019.

CENOTAPHS
Honolulu Memorial, Tablets of the Missing

FINAL BURIAL
Long Bridge Lutheran Church Cemetery, Little Sauk, Minnesota