Robert Swigert
Corporal Robert “Bob” Swigert served with Dog Company, Second Battalion, 18th Marines.
He was reported killed/missing in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 370783
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
December 5, 1917
at Oelrichs, SD
Parents
Bird & Eva Swigert
Education
Through 8th Grade
Occupation & Employer
Farm hand
Service Life
Entered Service
February 2, 1942
at Minneapolis, MN
Home Of Record
Oelrichs, MN
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Eva M. Swigert
Military Specialty
Pioneer
Primary Unit
18th Marines (D/2)
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Corporal Robert Swigert, a member of the Second Platoon of D/2/18th Marines, was attached to the Second Battalion, 2nd Marines for the landing on Betio. He came ashore on Beach Red 2, and survived the initial phase of fighting on 20 November 1943.
Swigert joined a group of pioneers running ammunition from a dump near the beach to the front lines. As he took shelter near the dump with PFC Truitt A. Anderson, a shell burst set off the ammunition. Corporal William W. Bennett, a close friend of both Marines, witnessed the explosion:
Where the dump had been there was now a smoking crater.... [Bennett] rolled over the wall and crawled towards the dump. He saw a dark mass on the right side and stood to run to it. It was Bob [Swigert]. He was obviously dead, and his shredded uniform had white smoke coming off it.
Swigert was initially reported as missing in action on Tarawa; his status was later updated to killed in action as of 20 November.
Burial Information or Disposition
Burial information not known – remains not recovered.
A memorial marker was erected in Cemetery 33, Grave 4, Row 2, Plot 3.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of Mrs. Eva Swigert
Location Of Loss
Corporal Swigert was killed in the vicinity of Red Beach 2.
