Sam Williams McAllister, Jr.

Sergeant Sam W. McAllister served with Item Company, 3rd Marines in the Solomon Islands and the Tarawa campaign.

On 20 November 1943, McAllister’s battalion was assigned the task of spearheading the assault on Betio’s Beach Red One – a curved stretch of sand running several hundred yards from the “bird’s beak” in the west to Red Two in the east. The natural shape of the beach created a crossfire for the defenders, and the area became known as “the Pocket.” Slow-moving landing craft were quickly targeted from multiple angles, and many were knocked out as they approached the shore. Hundreds of men were killed or wounded before stepping foot on dry land. Those who survived faced a network of obstacles manned by determined Japanese defenders, and the fighting was close-in and savage.

Sergeant McAllister was hit by shrapnel in the back and side on 20 November. Another Item Company man, PFC Charles F. Lucas, saw the wounded NCO making his way back to the beach along with Private Gerhardt A. Hippauf. About twenty minutes later, Lucas was also hit and returned to the beach for medical treatment. “I saw McAllister and Hippauf and they were both living then,” he recalled. “I was told to move down the beach, that was the last I saw either of them.”

Hippauf and McAllister were both reportedly evacuated to a hospital ship – but only Hippauf arrived at a rear-area hospital. As months passed without word from Sergeant McAllister, his family grew anxious and an inquiry was made into his whereabouts. No trace of him could be found at any military installation, post, or hospital.

Sam McAllister was officially declared dead on 21 November 1944. His exact fate, and the disposition of his remains, is a mystery.