Russell Lee Carney
PFC Russell L. Carney served with Easy Company, Second Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 491624
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
January 17, 1923
at Stockdale, PA
Parents
William L. Carney
Nodie (Brown) Carney
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Millworker
Pittsburgh Steel
Other
Married Dolores Michener (November 4, 1942)
Daughter Linda Carney
(born July 10, 1943)
Service Life
Entered Service
November 11, 1942
at Pittsburgh, PA
Home Of Record
Allenport, PA
Next Of Kin
Wife, Mrs. Dolores Carney
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
E/2/2nd Marines
Campaigns Served
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
PFC Russell Carney served with Easy Company, 2nd Marines during the battle of Tarawa. On 20 November 1943, his battalion was tasked with spearheading the assault on a stretch of sand called Beach Red Two. Easy Company was to land on the western half of the beach, but on the way to shore their LVTs were subjected to withering fire from the Japanese defenses, and the unit’s organization disintegrated. Casualties were extremely heavy; of 165 Easy Company men who went into action, 62 were killed and scores more were wounded over the course of the battle.
Carney was one who fell; he suffered multiple wounds – either from an exploding shell or several bullets – and died somewhere in the vicinity of Red Two. He left behind a widow and an infant daughter whom he never met.
Burial Information or Disposition
In the immediate aftermath of the battle, the disposition of PFC Carney’s remains was not known to his battalion – a fact reflected in their muster roll:
However, a burial party did locate Carney’s body and laid him to rest in Grave 62, Row B, 8th Marines Cemetery #1 – a temporary cemetery a few yards inland from Red Two. In early 1944, the original markers were removed and “beautified” crosses installed in their place. Carney’s marker in this memorial stood over Grave 1, Plot 1, Row 2. The layout of the memorial markers bore no correlation to the original cemetery.
This location – also known as “Cemetery 25” – was excavated by the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company in 1946. Unfortunately, none of the remains they found could be identified as Carney’s. It is possible that he was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific as an unknown.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of wife, Mrs. Dolores Carney.
Location Of Loss
PFC Carney was killed in the vicinity of Betio’s Beach Red 2.
