Patterson Boone McCary

Patterson McCary enlisted in the Marine Corps in September 1940. After completing boot camp at MCRD San Diego, he trained as an artilleryman and crewed a 75mm pack howitzer with Battery D, 10th Marines. 
“Pat” McCary deployed to Iceland with the 10th Marines in 1941, and returned as a member of the 6th Marines (infantry) in January 1942. He re-trained as an anti-tank gunner with the regimental weapons company, with whom he saw combat in the Guadalcanal campaign and the battle for Tarawa.

On 15 June 1944, the 6th Marines were tasked with leading the attack on Saipan’s Red Beaches 1 and 2. Their amphibious tractors were immediately targeted by intense Japanese fire. “As the assault waves started over the reef, it seemed to explode,” records A Brief History of the 6th Marines. “Well registered artillery and mortar shells from hidden and camouflaged enemy guns turned the barrier into an inferno of fire, thunder, and water cascades. The LVTs moved relentlessly on, leaving many of their numbers either broached or destroyed.” Despite their losses, the 6th Marines managed to secure their beachhead and repel a series of determined Japanese counterattacks through the afternoon and night.

Corporal McCary was killed in action by a gunshot wound to the head at some point during the day’s fighting. No further information about his fate or final disposition is currently known.