Robert Lee Sanders
PFC Robert L. “Bobby” Sanders served with Love Company, Third Battalion, 8th Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 515126
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
February 19, 1927
at Sheffield, AL
Parents
Charles James Sanders
Mary Josephine (Lanza) Sanders
later Mary Weidman
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Student
Service Life
Entered Service
February 11, 1943
at Birmingham, AL
Home Of Record
711 3rd Avenue West
Birmingham, AL
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Mary Weidman
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
L/3/8th Marines
Campaigns Served
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
Sanders falsified his age in order to enlist; military paperwork gives his date of birth as 1925.
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
PFC Robert Sanders served with Love Company, 8th Marines during the battle of Tarawa.
The amphibious assault on Betio, Tarawa atoll – Operation GALVANIC – commenced on 20 November 1943. The Third Battalion, 8th Marines were in reserve for the landing operation, but were ordered to stand by in their LCVPs and were afloat by 1015. At 1200, the battalion’s first wave began heading towards Beach Red 3 to support the heavily-engaged BLT 2-8.
Several hundred yards from the beach, the LCVPs slammed into a coral reef and stopped. Ramps went down, and Marines gamely jumped out into water over their heads. Some drowned, while the rest faced “heavy 40mm, machine gun, and mortar fire” that shredded their ranks. The following waves fared little better, and were driven off course to the west, landing on the pier or on Beach Red 2. Only about a hundred disorganized, demoralized men – less than a company – made it to shore. Over the next several hours, Captain Osborne “OK” LeBlanc organized enough men from Love and Item Companies to advance inland to the airstrip, where they held positions.
Sixteen-year-old Bobby Sanders was one of hundreds of Marines who lost his life on the first day of the battle. His official cause of death was “shrapnel wounds received in action” – no further specifics of his death are known.
Sanders is the youngest known American casualty of the battle for Tarawa.
Burial Information or Disposition
The day after he died, Bobby Sanders was reportedly buried in “Division Cemetery #1” or “Central Division Cemetery” – a large battlefield cemetery established by Chaplains Willard and Kelly of the 8th Marines. Willard kept careful records of the men he buried, and noted “SANDERS, R. L. 515126” in Row A, Grave 10. Despite the one digit mistake in service number, it seems very likely that Willard’s report was made accurately and in good faith.
In 1944, the Navy garrison embarked on a program of “beautifying” the many cemeteries on Betio. Division Cemetery #1 was demolished and a memorial, called Cemetery 26, built over the graves. Sanders had a marker here (Plot 3, Row 1, Grave 9) but it bore no relation to the spot where his body was really buried. Graves Registration troops exhumed this cemetery in 1946, but failed to identify PFC Sanders’ remains. In more recent years, archaeological expeditions to Betio have retrieved additional remains and artifacts from this site.
It is possible that Robert Lee Sanders is among the unidentified remains currently awaiting laboratory work. Or, he may still lie in a temporary grave on Betio, as yet undiscovered.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Mary Weidman.
Location Of Loss
Sanders’ battalion landed at various locations between Beach Red 2 and Red 3.
