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Osea Alexander Audette

Sergeant Osea A. Audette served with Fox Company, Second Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Branch

Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 304518

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Current Status

Remains Not Recovered

Pursuit Category

This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth

June 1, 1916
at Worcester, MA

Parents

Alexander Joseph Audette
Marie Bella (Gagner) Audette

Education

High school graduate
Details unknown

Occupation & Employer

Nailer
Kleven Shoe Company

Service Life

Entered Service

March 5, 1941
at Boston, MA

Home Of Record

36 Grove Street
Spencer, MA

Next Of Kin

Mother, Mrs. Bella M. Audette

Military Specialty

Primary Unit

F/2/2nd Marines

Campaigns Served

Guadalcanal
Tarawa

Individual Decorations

Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

Sergeant Osea Audette served as an NCO with Fox Company, 2nd Marines during the Tarawa campaign. On 20 November 1943, his battalion was assigned the task of spearheading the assault on Betio’s Red Beach Two. Fox Company would land on the eastern half of the beach, fight their way inland, and help secure a vital airfield. If all went according to plan, they would walk ashore standing up and have the situation in hand by evening.

Unfortunately, the plan went right out the window in the first few minutes of the assault. Extremely heavy Japanese fire tore into the amphibian tractors carrying the Marines ashore; many of the vehicles never even reached the beach. The 2nd Marines suffered an astonishing number of casualties in moments; they managed to secure a toehold on the beach, but facing withering firepower, few managed to get over the sea wall and into the Japanese defenses beyond.

Sergeant Audette was one of nineteen Fox Company Marines to lose his life on the first day of the battle; he died from gunshot wounds to the head.

Excerpt from the muster roll of Second Battalion, 2nd Marines, November 1943.
Burial Information or Disposition

On 22 November, Sergeant Audette’s body was reportedly buried in “Beach Red Cemetery #2” (also known as “Central Division Cemetery”), Row B, Grave 34. This location was later “beautified” by Navy garrison forces, and a memorial built on top of the graves – which required knocking down the original markers. The reconstructed “Cemetery 26” included a white cross for Sergeant Audette (Grave 3, Row 1, Plot 4), but this bore no relation to where his remains were actually buried.

The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company exhumed the bodies buried in this cemetery late in 1946, but were unable to identify many of the men they found. Today, Sergeant Osea Audette may be buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific – or his remains may still lie on Betio itself.

Next Of Kin Address

Address of mother, Mrs. Bella Audette.

Location Of Loss

Sergeant Audette was killed in the vicinity of Betio’s Beach Red 2.

Betio Casualties From This Company​

(Recently accounted for or still non-recovered)
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