Robert Richard Lyons
Corporal Robert R. Lyons served with the regimental intelligence (R-2) section of the 5th Marines.
He was reported missing in action from the “Goettge Patrol” at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on 13 August 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 284474
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
January 8, 1923
at Springfield, MO
Parents
Leo J. Lyons (d. 1935)
Anna (Danilowski) Lyons
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Pin Setter
Bowling Alley
Service Life
Entered Service
May 7, 1940
at Detroit, MI
Home Of Record
2230 Faber Street
Hamtramck, MI
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Anna M. Lyons
Military Specialty
Combat Intelligence
Primary Unit
HQ, 5th Marines
R-2 Section
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Corporal Robert Lyons served with the regimental intelligence (R-2) section of the 5th Marines during the campaign for the Solomon Islands.
On the afternoon of 12 August 1942, Colonel Frank B. Goettge – the 1st Marine Division intelligence officer (D-2) – ordered a reconnaissance patrol of an area west of Point Cruz. Goettge was led to believe that the local Japanese garrison was starving and wanted to surrender; he hoped to capture prisoners and simultaneously scout and map the area beyond the Marine perimeter. To accomplish this mission, the colonel gathered two dozen trained specialists and placed himself in command.
The patrol was a disaster from the outset. After departing Kukum in total darkness, the Marines landed in the wrong place – and after grounding their boat on a sandbar, came ashore just west of the Matanikau River. A determined Japanese guard force pinned the patrol on the beach near Horahi Village, and picked off the Marines one by one. Only three managed to escape to the safety of American lines.
Corporal Lyons was reported as missing in action when the patrol failed to return to safety. Officially, nothing more was ever learned of Goettge’s men, and all were eventually declared dead as of 14 August 1943.
Burial Information or Disposition
The fate of the Goettge Patrol was known only too well to the Marines on Guadalcanal – especially members of the 5th Marines, who made numerous patrols and fought a battle over the same area. Dismembered body parts were seen strewn about the riverbanks, and a burial trench was later found near Horahi itself. However, due to the conditions of battle, none of the remains could be recovered – and later campaigning and construction eventually obliterated all physical traces of the Goettge Patrol.
[A patrol from K/3/5th Marines] found Goettge’s men on the east bank of the river.
The smell came first, “a scent that those of us who were there can recall in an instant,” said Sergeant Thurman Miller. “What lay beneath the foliage was no longer human.… Sticking out of the sand was a boot, containing the foot of its owner. I scraped in the sand and uncovered another legging with the leg still in it.”
“The first thing I saw was the severed head of a Marine,” recalled Sergeant Jim McEnery. “I almost let out a yell because the head was moving back and forth in the water and looked like it was alive. Then I realized it was just bobbing in the small waves lapping at the shore. They would wash it up onto the sand a few inches, then it would float back out again when the waves receded.” Their shocked eyes beheld parts strewn in every direction as they slowly worked across the sandspit. The ragged stump of a leg sporting a neatly laced boondocker. A headless, armless torso still clad in a first sergeant’s shirt. Less identifiable pieces floated in the water or lay fly-covered and rotting in the sand. Some men began to retch, but most stood stock still in horrified silence. “No one spoke,” recalled Miller. “Not a word. Some things are better left unsaid.”
The Goettge Patrol has been the object of multiple expeditions and digs over the decades, but so far none have been successful.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Anna M. Lyons.
Location Of Loss
The Goettge Patrol was ambushed near the western bank of the Matanikau.
Gallery
Goettge Patrol Casualties
Missing in action 12-13 August 1942.
Leaving Mac Behind: The Lost Marines of Guadalcanal
Frank Few lay in his foxhole, wishing the daylight away. Warm seawater swirled into his foxhole, turning pinkish as it mingled with the blood seeping from his chest and arm. Sand was everywhere—stuck to the Japanese blood on his clothes, in his eyes, in the Reising gun he borrowed from Monk and which would only fire single shots. Few counted out his remaining rounds and stuffed them into his mouth to keep the sand and salt water away. Occasionally, a bullet snapped
overhead, as if he needed a reminder to keep his head down.
Trapped in a flooding foxhole, wounded, almost out of ammunition, with the sun coming up. It could not get much worse: “The hell with this for a lark,” he thought.
Read more about the Goettge Patrol in "Leaving Mac Behind."
Click the cover for details.
This is my great-uncle Bobby, thank you for this page.
Hi Megan,
Thanks for the note–glad you enjoyed the page. I’m hoping to update it soon with more information Cpl. Lyons’ life and about the Goettge Patrol, as well.
Best,
Geoff
If you’d like a little information on his childhood I can provide that. Thank you,
This is my Great Uncle, brother of Arthur Lyons. I have his service record and pictures.
-GySgt Steven Sullivan USMC (ret)
Gunny Sergeant Sullivan:
I am a World War II historian researching the Goettge Patrol for a possible book. I am attempting to contact the families of the 25 Marines involved in that patrol, and would love to speak with you about anything you have relating to your great uncle. For background about my career, my website, johnwukovits.com, has biographical items plus other information about me and the books I have written about the Pacific War, including 4 books relating to Marines. I appreciate anything you can share.
Thank you for your time.
John Wukovits
Author
734-673-2560 cell