Sebastian Baca Garde
Corporal Sebastian B. Garde served with the Second Tank Battalion, Company C (Medium).
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 448807
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
August 23, 1916
at East Vaughn, NM
Parents
Constantin Garde (d. 1930)
Francisca (Baca) Garde
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Dry Cleaning
Service Life
Entered Service
August 26, 1942
at Phoenix, AZ
Home Of Record
4633 La Mirada
Los Angeles, CA
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Francisca B. Garde
Military Specialty
Recon Guide
Primary Unit
2nd Tank Battalion
Company C (Medium)
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Corporal Sebastian Garde served as a recon guide with Company C (Medium), 2nd Tank Battalion. During the amphibious landings on Betio, his role was to lead a platoon of tanks ashore using floats to mark a clear path around obstacles like shell holes or mines. It was a dangerous job in theory, and all but suicidal under fire.
According to Oscar Gilbert and Romain Canisere, Corporal Garde was in the first LCVP to leave the USS Ashland and hit the water nearly 1200 yards from Beach Red One. Veteran Melvin Swango told the authors:
There were about twenty of us, all in one Higgins boat. By the time we hit the edge of the reef the machine gun fire was so intense it was tearing through the bulkheads of the Higgins boat. I would guess that maybe five or six of the men fell to the deck there, either killed or wounded.
They landed us right at the edge of the reef and we started wading in.... We spread out in a single line, spacing ourselves as far apart as possible while still being able to see any crater that might appear between us. Whenever we found a crater, one man would stand there to wave the tanks around it.... Our tanks were watching for us as they plowed through the water.
Machine gun fire was so intense it was like raindrops in the water all around us. Each time I looked around, there would be fewer of us. A man would simply sink beneath the water, and that would be the end of him. I only know of three of us who survived.
At some point during the landing operation, Corporal Garde was killed by gunshot wounds to the head and face. He was the second of three Garde brothers to die in World War II.
Burial Information or Disposition
None reported; identifiable remains not recovered.
A memorial marker was erected in Cemetery 33, Plot 16, Row 1, Grave 16.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Francesca Garde.
Location Of Loss
Corporal Garde was likely killed in action near Betio’s Red Beach One.
