Norton Vernon Retzsch

PFC Norton Retzsch served with Company C, 1st Raider Battalion, during the New Georgia campaign. He landed at Rice Anchorage on 5 July 1943 and participated in a grueling march through thick swamps and across swift rivers. When the Raiders reached the Dragons Peninsula and closed in on their objectives – Enogai and Bairoko – Japanese resistance grew more serious, and several minor but vicious skirmishes in the jungle cost lives on both sides. Making matters worse, the Raiders were poorly supplied: ammunition was limited, and rations ran out a few days into the operation. The only way out was to capture their targets.

On 9 July 1943, Captain John “Black Jack” Salmon’s Charlie Company led the Raiders on the march to Enogai Harbor. As they paused to get their bearings about 750 yards from their objective, a pair of Japanese machine guns opened fire, trapping the Marines in a pocket. “All hell broke loose up front,” commented Raider Marlin Groft (Co. B). “C Company had blundered into a prepared killing field of Nambu machine gun nests aided by snipers cleverly concealed in the surrounding trees. C Company’s lead platoon took heavy losses.” The firefight raged for more than two hours, and only petered out as dusk fell.

At the end of the day, the Raiders counted their casualties: many wounded (two mortally), and six killed outright. Three other Marines – PFC William A. Pelkey, Private Burrell D. Hodges, Jr., and PFC Retzsch – were reported missing. All three Marines were declared dead on 10 July 1944.

Retzsch’s dog tag was taken by a Japanese soldier who later ran into a Raider patrol: