Ralph Gilbert Carpenter

PFC Ralph G. Carpenter served with Dog Company, First Marine Raider Battalion.
He was killed in action at Bairoko Harbor, New Georgia, on 20 July 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 330627
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
August 15, 1922
at Lancaster, KY
Parents
George Finnis Carpenter
Hattie (Brackett) Carpenter (d. 1935)
Education
Elementary school
Occupation & Employer
Laborer
Soap works
Service Life
Entered Service
December 12, 1941
at Cincinnati, OH
Home Of Record
New Carlisle, OH
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. George F. Carpenter
Military Specialty
Raider
Primary Unit
D/1st Raider Battalion
Campaigns Served
New Georgia
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
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Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On 20 July 1943, after fifteen days of traversing New Georgia’s Dragons Peninsula, struggling through mangrove swamps, skirmishing with Japanese forces, and fighting a pitched battle for a base at Enogai, elements of the 1st Marine Raider Regiment – the First and Fourth Raider Battalions – set out to attack the enemy garrison at Barioko Harbor. The Marines, advancing along the Enogai-Bairoko Trail, would form the northern wing of the assault, with 3/148th Infantry supporting along the Triri-Bairoko trail to the south. “Between the two trails was tangled jungle and vile swampland, which we all knew meant there would be no opportunity for fancy maneuvering,” recalled Raider Marlin Groft. “When we attacked Bairoko it would be a desperate, head-on frontal assault.”
Groft was correct – and, to make matters worse, the Japanese garrison used the ten days after Enogai to reinforce and fortify their positions. A planned airstrike never materialized, and the Army’s support was lackluster. At 1015, the Raiders hit the first Japanese outposts and pushed through with grenades and bayonets – only to run headlong into an impassible main line of resistance. “A wall of lead came at us from Nambus firmly placed in nests chiseled into the hard coral,” Groft continued. “Our advance was brought to a halt…. If combat men ever experienced a Hell on Earth, this was it.”
By 1700 hours, high casualties and fading daylight forced the Raiders to withdraw back to Enogai. The “screwed up affair” of Bairoko was the worst defeat ever suffered by any Raider unit.
PFC Ralph Carpenter was one of eight Dog Company Raiders killed during the day’s action. Gunshot wounds to the chest were noted as the cause of death. No further specifics about his final moments are currently known.
Burial Information or Disposition
Most of the Raiders killed in action at Bairoko were left in the field; evacuating the wounded took priority. More than a month would pass before the remains were recovered. Photographs of this process show Marines carrying blanket-wrapped bundles, suggesting an advanced state of decomposition. Individually identifying the dead would have been challenging, but was accomplished in most cases before burial in the Enogai cemetery.
PFC Carpenter was reportedly buried at Enogai, but without a specific grave or row.
The dead Raiders were later moved from Enogai to the New Georgia Cemetery, and finally to the Finschaffen cemetery complex in New Guinea. There is no further burial data for PFC Carpenter, and the location of his last gravesite cannot be confirmed from existing records.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. George F. Carpenter.
Location Of Loss
PFC Carpenter was killed in action near Bairoko (Mbaeroko), New Georgia.