Walter Vernon Sutherland
Sergeant Walter V. Sutherland served with Headquarters Company, 2nd Marines.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 325201
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
February 10, 1918
at Bellingham, WA
Parents
Walter Luther Sutherland
Winnifred (Long) Sutherland (d. 1930)
Education
Friday Harbor High School
University of Washington (ex-1942)
Occupation & Employer
College student
Service Life
Entered Service
October 8, 1941
at Seattle, WA
Home Of Record
Friday Harbor, WA
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. Walter L. Sutherland
Military Specialty
Code Clerk
Primary Unit
Intelligence (R-2)
H&S Co./2nd Marines
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
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Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Sergeant Walter Sutherland served with the Regimental Intelligence (R-2) section of Headquarters Company, 2nd Marines.
On 20 November 1943, during the amphibious landings on Betio in the Tarawa atoll, Sergeant Sutherland embarked on a landing craft carrying personnel from the 2nd Marines command post. Also aboard was Captain John L. Schwabe, the intelligence officer. Schwabe considered Sutherland to be his “right hand man” in all things, and hoped to secure a commission for his prized NCO.
Japanese gunners targeted the landing craft as it approached the shore. “We all abandoned our craft and sought cover on the beach,” wrote Captain Schwabe. “At this point of the engagement, Walter was fatally hit. He did not suffer because he never knew what happened.”
Sergeant Sutherland was killed by an explosion that inflicted multiple shrapnel wounds. He was twenty-five years old.
Burial Information or Disposition
In a condolence letter written in February 1944, Captain Schwabe assured the Sutherlands that “as to [Walter’s] burial, he is resting in one of the cemeteries on Tarawa. He received appropriate ceremony and blessings from the Navy chaplain.”
However, no official documentation surrounding Walter Sutherland’s burial is known to exist. A memorial marker with his name was erected in Cemetery 11, Grave 1, Row 2, Plot 16, but the real disposition of his remains is not known.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. Walter L. Sutherland
Location Of Loss
Sergeant Sutherland was killed in action at an unspecified location on Betio.
