Richard Ellsworth Davis
PFC Richard E. “Dick” Davis served with Able Company, 2nd Raider Battalion (Carlson’s Raiders).
He was captured on Makin Island and executed at Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, on 16 October 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 334063
Current Status
Remains not recovered.
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
April 2, 1922
at Minneapolis, MN
Parents
Curtis James Davis
Lucille Mildred (Foster) Davis (d. 1929)
Raised from age 7 by his aunt, Alice V. Morrill
Education
West High School (1941)
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
December 27, 1941
at Minneapolis, MN
Home Of Record
2616 Dupont Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. Curtis J. Davis
Military Specialty
Raider
Campaigns Served
Makin Island Raid
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Prisoner of War Medal
Additional Service Details
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Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Before dawn on 17 August 1942, two companies of the 2nd Raider Battalion disembarked from a pair of submarines, boarded rubber boats, and paddled ashore on Makin Island. The commando-style raid, plagued by confusion and unexpectedly stiff resistance by the Japanese garrison, led Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson to briefly contemplate surrender before ordering his men back to the submarines. Only a few reached safety that evening; many others were stranded on the beach for and uncomfortable night.
PFC Richard Davis was one who spent the night in a sandy foxhole. A fellow Raider, PFC Glen A. Lincoln, recalled the last time he saw “Dick” Davis:
On waking up in the morning I discovered that I was sharing a little dirt pocket with Private Dick Davis and Major [James] Roosevelt. Dick was very upset and kept repeating, "What's my aunt in Minneapolis going to say when she hears about this?" The major was upset, too, as he had lost his glasses in the surf and apparently couldn't see without them.
The Raiders finally withdrew, leaving eighteen confirmed KIA and twelve missing. Those men, including PFC Davis, were declared dead on 18 August 1943.
In fact, nine Raiders survived and were captured by the garrison force. These men were shipped to Kwajalein atoll and the headquarters of the Japanese Sixth Base Unit. They were held in captivity for forty days, ostensibly awaiting suitable transport to Japan. Captain Yoshiro Obara testified that “our men [were] on good terms with these prisoners… giving their candies and cigarettes to them, and the prisoners [were] expecting to see Tokyo as soon as possible and talking about Japanese women.” This companionable picture was almost certainly false, as other prisoners who survived Kwajalein described atrocious and cruel conditions.
On 16 October 1942, the Raiders were led from their cells to a clearing in the coconut groves. One by one they were blindfolded, made to kneel on a mat, and beheaded. The slaughter lasted thirty minutes; historian Tripp Wiles notes that Obara himself reportedly took the first swing.
After the war, Obara and Abe were among those tried for war crimes. Obara received ten years imprisonment and served five; Abe, who insisted that his hands were tied by orders from others, was sentenced to death. He was hanged on Guam on 19 June 1947.
Burial Information or Disposition
The bodies were unceremoniously dumped in an unmarked mass grave somewhere on Kwajalein. The exact site has never been located.
Decorations
Purple Heart
For wounds resulting in his death at enemy hands, 16 October 1942
Prisoner Of War Medal
In captivity from 18 August 1942 – 16 October 1942
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Curtis Davis.
Richard’s aunt, Mrs. Alice Morrill, lived at 2928 Dean Boulevard in Minneapolis.
Location Of Loss
The Raiders were imprisoned and executed on the island of Kwajalein.
On this Memorial Day, thank you for the wonderful tribute to Richard E. Davis. My husband and I used to sit with his father Curtiss J. Davis, my husband’s granduncle, and talk about Richard. I remember “Curt” giving a few scenarios of what happened to Richard, but never that he was beheaded. I could tell it was very difficult to think about losing his first child and son. Curtiss died in 1983. We, however, learned of Richard’s true fate at the age of 20. So this day, we remember Richard. He meant a great deal to our family. He gave his life for us and the freedom we hold so dear. Thank you. Thomas J. and Sharon Page
P.S. Please note that his full name was Richard Ellsworth Davis. I have his birth certificate.
Excerpt from Forgotten Raiders of ‘42 by Tripp Wiles:
“Private First Class [Richard] Davis was on the beach on the morning of the eighteenth but was not seen again. Raider Glenn Lincoln said he woke up near Davis on the beach: “On waking up in the morning I discovered that I was sharing a little dirt pocket with Private Dick Davis and Major Roosevelt. Dick was very upset and kept repeating, ‘What’s my aunt in Minneapolis going to say when she hears about this?’ The major was upset, too, as he had lost his glasses in the surf and apparently couldn’t see without them.”
Richard “Dick” Davis was my uncle. All the years growing up there was not a week or month that went by that he was mention by my mother or grandfather Curtis. He was my mothers hero. He moved in to aunt Alice’s house when he was 7 and my mother was 3. He protected her like a big brother would. She look up to him just as baby sister would. What happened to my uncle tore my family apart. They never forgot their brother Dick.