Stanley Sage Smith
Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Stanley S. Smith was a Navy hospital corpsman attached to Third Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
United States Navy Reserve
Service Number 554 02 72
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
July 10, 1925
at Morton, ID
Parents
Carl Edward Smith (d. 1925)
Ruby M. (Sage) Smith
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Student
Service Life
Entered Service
July 22, 1942
at Boise, ID
Home Of Record
508 Lake Street
Sandpoint, ID
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Ruby Sage Smith
Military Specialty
Corpsman
Primary Unit
Unknown company
3/2nd Marines
Campaigns Served
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Pharmacist’s Mate Stanley Smith served as a medical corpsman with the Third Battalion, 2nd Marines. Although officially on the rolls of Headquarters Company, “Doc” Smith may have served with one of the battalion’s four companies in combat.
On 20 November 1943, Smith’s battalion led the assault on Betio’s Red Beach One. Their landing vehicles were caught in a terrible crossfire, and many were knocked out before ever reaching the beach. Casualties in 3/2 were extremely high, and the corpsmen were stretched to the limits of their skills and endurance in trying to keep their Marines alive. Many of the sailors became casualties themselves: eleven 3/2 corpsmen were wounded during the battle, while a surgeon and three corpsmen were killed.
Corpsman Smith suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest at some point during the landings. He was just eighteen years old when he died.
Burial Information or Disposition
After the battle, Stanley Smith’s remains were reportedly buried in the Eastern Division Cemetery, Row C, Grave 31. This location was later “beautified” by Navy garrison troops and re-christened “Cemetery 33.” A memorial marker for Smith was placed here at Grave 5, Row 1, Plot 15 – but this bore no relation to where his body actually lay.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company exhumed this cemetery, but were unable to identify Corpsman Smith from among the remains. Today, he may be buried as an unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Ruby Sage Smith.
Location Of Loss
Corpsman Smith’s battalion landed along Betio’s Red Beach One.
