Robert Chester Bernard Sherry

Robert Chester Bernard Sherry once worked with horses. In the Marines, he was a “Mustang.”

Sherry was born in the small city of Montpelier, Idaho. When he arrived in the world on 18 January 1919, his father, Barney Sherry, was fifty-eight, and his mother, Josephine, was just 25. The Sherrys were heavily involved with horses – Barney, a blacksmith, ran his own smithy while Josephine’s occupation in 1920 was listed as “Acrobat On Horseback.” When Robert was small, the family moved to San Bruno, California, and lived in modest housing at the Tanforan Racetrack.

Having grown up around horses, it was hardly surprising that Robert began his working career in a stable. He graduated from Coronado High School in 1937 as a noted athlete and student body Vice President, and was hired on at Tanforan as a groom. Robert cared for animals belonging to the Deming Racing Association and for the famed film producer Louis B. Mayer. However, after three years of employment, Robert desired a change. He registered for Selective Service but ultimately decided to enlist in the Marine Corps on 23 December 1940.

After completing boot camp, Sherry was assigned to signal school where he showed an affinity for radios. In July of 1941, he was assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Marines at Camp Elliott; here, he likely met Major Evans F. Carlson for the first time. Carlson would play a major role in Robert’s life in the years to come. He also married June Jensen around this time; soon, they were expecting their first child.

PFC Sherry was stationed in California when Pearl Harbor was attacked; this national tragedy was followed by a personal one as his father Barney passed away on 9 January 1942 – the same day that Robert was assigned to special duty with a radio operator’s school in San Diego. While training, he learned that Carlson was planning a special commando-style unit for volunteers who wanted to fight. Sherry leaped at the chance and was accepted into Company B, 2nd Marine Raider Battalion as a radio operator. He departed for overseas duty in April 1942; his son, Robert Kenneth, was born that May.

With Carlson’s Raiders, Sherry quickly advanced in rank to sergeant and got all the action he wanted and more. He participated in the Makin Island raid of August 1942, and in the Long Patrol on Guadalcanal that winter. By the end of 1943, he had additional combat on Bougainville under his belt and, as a technical sergeant, was the senior NCO in charge of communications for his battalion.

In January 1944, Technical Sergeant Sherry was transferred back to California. After a brief furlough, he reported for duty at Camp Pendleton with Headquarters Company, Second Battalion, 27th Marines. This newly-formed regiment, part of the 5th Marine Division, would head overseas later in the year to prepare for the invasion of Iwo Jima. Once again, Sherry was placed in charge of the battalion’s communication personnel, and he excelled at his role. On 7 February 1945, he received a field commission to the rank of Second Lieutenant. In Marine parlance, an enlisted man who becomes an officer is a “mustang.”

A few days later, Sherry gathered his men for a pre-invasion pep talk. Willis Pehl was among them. “He said that this will be his third combat, but he said for most of you, it’s going to be your first,” said Pehl. Sherry’s final sentiment – “You should be very optimistic about surviving, ’cause the odds are with you, they’re not with me” – would prove to be prophetic.