Orville Allen Hutchison
PFC Orville A. Hutchison served with King Company, Third Battalion, 8th Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 21 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 309081
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
April 10, 1923
at Chillicothe, MO
Parents
Jarvis Detmer Hutchison
Emma Florence (Mallet) Hutchison
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
June 14, 1941
at St. Louis, MO
Home Of Record
527 Market Street
Brookfield, MO
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Emma Hutchison
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
K/3/8th Marines
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
PFC Orville Hutchison served with King Company, 8th Marines in the Guadalcanal campaign and the battle of Tarawa.
The amphibious assault on Betio, Tarawa atoll – Operation GALVANIC – commenced on 20 November 1943. The Third Battalion, 8th Marines were in reserve for the landing operation, but were ordered to stand by in their LCVPs and were afloat by 1015. At 1200, the battalion’s first wave(which included King Company) began heading towards Beach Red 3 to support the heavily-engaged BLT 2-8.
Several hundred yards from the beach, the LCVPs slammed into a coral reef and stopped. Ramps went down, and Marines gamely jumped out into water over their heads. Some drowned, while the rest faced “heavy 40mm, machine gun, and mortar fire” that shredded their ranks. Only about a hundred disorganized, demoralized men – less than a company – made it to shore. The King Company survivors were sent to hold the left flank of the Marine line, and endured heavy machine gun and sniper fire for the rest of the day.
PFC Hutchison survived the first day of his first battle, but not the second. He succumbed to gunshot wounds on 21 November 1943; no further details of his death are known.
Burial Information or Disposition
“Division Cemetery, Tarawa.” No further details known. A memorial marker was erected in Cemetery 33, Plot 8, Row 2, Grave 12.
In 1964, a construction crew on Betio uncovered a mostly intact skeleton with American combat gear and an identification tag for “M. E. Drucker.” When American authorities arrived to take charge of the remains, they were also handed boxes containing scattered bones and another tag – for HUTCHISON, O. A. 309081. The remains were shipped to the US Army Mortuary in Tokyo for examination.
Drucker was ultimately identified through this effort. The other remains – designated “XJ-1315” – were determined to be “commingled, incomplete remains represent[ing] at least seven (7) remains of mongoloid racial stock, showing characteristics of the present Japanese population.” In accordance with military policy, these remains were handed over to the Japanese government.
What became of Hutchison’s dog tag – and his remains –is still unknown.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Emma Hutchison.
Location Of Loss
Hutchison’s battalion landed at various locations between Beach Red 2 and Red 3.
