Ralph Alton Carberry

PFC Ralph Carberry was an amphibian tractor crewman who trained at Dunedin, Florida and with the nascent 4th Marine Division at Camp Lejeune and Camp Pendleton.  During “Operation Flintlock,” this company was tasked with landing howitzers of the 14th Marines, which would then provide fire support for assault landings on other islands. Carberry’s tractor was loaded with a howitzer from Battery G, along with its crew, ammunition, and accessories, for delivery to Ennuebing (codenamed Jacob).

Heavy surf around “Jacob” claimed at least one LVT2 during the infantry assault, and conditions were no better when the artillery was ordered to land. To make matters worse (as the 14th Marines operation report noted), “the LVTs were debarked from 6,000 to 12,000 yards offshore. This was unsatisfactory as the landing was delayed unduly.” High seas and treacherous coral capsized or swamped a number of tractors – including two loaded with G Battery howitzers. All equipment was lost and the survivors desperately tried to keep their heads above water.

At 1227, LCI(L) 450 – herself aground on a coral reef – “sighted four amphibious tanks about 500 yards astern which had capsized in strong current and heavy surf.” She passed two lines to the swimming men, and within an hour had 48 survivors aboard representing the 1st Joint Assault Signal Company; G Battery, 14th Marines; HQ Company, 2/25th Marines; and the 10th and 11th Amphibian Tractor Battalions. The senior officer saved, 1Lt. Harold C. Montgomery (G/14), interviewed survivors and determined that six men were missing.

PFC Carberry and PFC Darwin E. Hemenway were “last seen off Jacob Island… in a LVT in sinking condition.” Both Marines were reported as missing during the landings, and ultimately declared dead on 1 February 1945.