Robert Fred Van Heck
Sergeant Robert F. Van Heck served with Able Company, Second Amphibian Tractor Battalion.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 297862
Current Status
ACCOUNTED FOR
April 13, 2023
Pursuit Category
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Read press release
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
September 18, 1918
at Chicago, IL
Parents
Gus E. Van Heck
Arizona Vivian (Coles) Van Heck
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
October 2, 1940
at Chicago, IL
Home Of Record
2051 Fargo Avenue
Chicago, IL
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Vivian Van Heck
Military Specialty
Amphibian Tractor Crewman
Primary Unit
A/2nd Amphtrac Bn.
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Sergeant Van Heck served as an amphibian tractor crewman during the assault on Betio, Tarawa atoll. His vehicle was an LVT-1 model christened “Wabbit Twacks” – and painted with the hull number “13 1/2” to ward off bad luck. The “Wabbit Twacks” crew included Sergeant Calvin Hackler and Corporal Claire E. Goldtrap.
On 20 November 1943, “Wabbit Twacks” carried a squad from I/3/2nd Marines from the USS Middleton to land on Beach Red 1. As they approached, the Japanese opened fire on the LVT. As Goldtrap drove “Wabbit Twacks” up onto the beach, Van Heck and Hackler helped toss combat gear over the sides and manned the machine guns mounted on the cab to give Item Company some covering fire. As Goldtrap began to reverse off the beach, a shell exploded right in front of his cab. He stopped just as another shell burst to the rear. Van Heck yelled “Goldy, they have us in a bracket! Let’s get out of here!”
All three Marines were sheltering in the cab when a third shell scored a direct hit. Goldtrap and Van Heck took the full force of the explosion and were instantly killed. Hackler, badly wounded, managed to escape wreckage of “Wabbit Twacks” and survived the battle.
Burial Information or Disposition
After the battle, none of the recovered remains could be identified as Sergeant Van Heck, and no burial information was recorded. A memorial marker was erected in Cemetery 11, Grave 3, Row 3, Plot 3.
In fact, the memorial was not far from Van Heck’s actual burial place. In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company exhumed a mass grave at the site of Cemetery 11. Few remains could be identified at the time, and all were reburied in Lone Palm Cemetery. Among them was a mostly complete skeleton designated “X-265.” Laboratory analysis in Hawaii the following year also failed to establish an identity, and X-265 was interred as an unknown in Plot E, Grave 855 of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
In 2017, X-265 was exhumed once again and sent for additional testing. Using mtDNA analysis, the remains were matched to a relative of Robert Van Heck. He was officially accounted for on 13 April 2023.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Vivian Van Heck
Location Of Loss
Sgt. Van Heck’s LVT was knocked out on the shore of Red Beach 1.
as of 2 January 2025 Sgt Van Heck has been accounted for
https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-Announcements/Article/4020129/marine-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-van-heck-r/
According to a newspaper clipping shared by U.S. officials, Van Heck had sent a letter to his family warning that he would not be returning home. The young Marine had written: “Don’t count on me coming home this spring as we had planned.”
The message — and its timing — proved prophetic.
According to the newspaper article, about a half an hour after reading the letter, the family received a telegram announcing “the death of Sgt. Robert Van Heck who was killed in action.”
Rest easy Marine, you’re finally going to make it home. Semper Fi.