William Franklin Cowart

William Cowart was born in Reform, a small town in western Alabama, on 21 February 1922. He spent most of his youth in rural Pickens County; as the oldest child of Lester and Alice Cowart, “Bunk” was frequently found helping on the family farm in Ethelsville.

However, William did not plan on a farmer’s life. After attending school in McShan, he moved to Columbus, Mississippi – a relatively big city just over the border – to live with an uncle and work in a garment factory. Every Saturday afternoon, he took his harmonica to the local radio station to play on a musical program. According to family legend, work on the farm would stop while “Bunk” was on the air, and all the Cowarts would gather around the wireless to listen in.

One afternoon, Bunk concluded his playing with a surprise announcement: he was going to enlist in the Marine Corps. Several Cowarts borrowed a neighbor’s car and took off for Columbus, but by the time they arrived Bunk had already signed the papers.

Bunk Cowart joined the Marine Corps at a Jackson, Mississippi recruiting station on 26 September 1942. His proud parents reported on his progress in a local newspaper. “William is one of the finest young men ever to be reared in this community,” enthused the Pickens County Herald, “and his early volunteering in the service of his country is a fine recommendation to the splendid home and school training he received…. He now weighs 160 pounds, and every point is real material of which good soldiers are made.”

After completing boot camp in San Diego, Private Cowart was assigned to the 10th Replacement Battalion and deployed overseas to New Zealand. He joined Battery D, Second Special Weapons Battalion in the spring of 1943, and spent several months training with this unit. In October, he transferred to Charlie Company, Second Amphibian Tractor Battalion, for duty as an assistant driver on an LVT-1 “Alligator” amphibious vehicle.

On one liberty, Cowart was out with a buddy when he spotted a pretty brunette. “I met him one day right in the middle of Willis Street,” recalled Leslie Biggs Cowart. “Bunk was standing on the corner with his friend Tex when I passed with a stout girl friend…. Bunk pointed to me and said ‘That’s my girl,’ and Tex said, ‘I always get the big ones.’ We told the two of them that we had to hurry home and get tea for our husbands, but they didn’t believe we were married and we all went out together. Well, I saw a lot of Bunk after that, and we fell in love and got married.” Leslie was soon pregnant. Ilona Cowart arrived in 1944 – tragically, long after her father departed.

“Bunk had a feeling he was going into something serious,” recalled Leslie’s mother, Mrs. Muriel Biggs. “That’s what he told my husband. He was among 24 picked from one of the camps to drive amphibious tractors, and they spent a lot of time on maneuvers those last few weeks. He never told us he was leaving, but one day he didn’t come back from maneuvers and we knew he had gone.”

Shortly after his reassignment to the tractor battalion, Private Cowart boarded the USS Sheridan and sailed for his baptism of fire – Operation GALVANIC, or the invasion of Tarawa atoll.

On 20 November 1943, Private Cowart took his place in the cab of LVT-1 #23. The tractor launched from the Sheridan and paddled over to the USS Heywood to embark men from 2/8th Marines. Cowart’s job was to land #23 on Betio’s Red Beach 3 and provide cover for the assault Marines attacking inland.

The LVT managed to reach the shore, and the embarked Marines hopped over the sides under fire. Someone at the controls – either Cowart or another driver – attempted to run #23 over the sea wall, but a spray of machine gun fire punched thorough the hull and into the cab, disabling the vehicle. One or more of these bullets may have hit Bunk Cowart, or perhaps he was hit while escaping the LVT. His life ended a few moments later on the sands of Betio.

Correspondent Robert Sherrod managed to reach Red Three after a harrowing slog through the water. He spotted “a stalled amphtrack which was jammed against the sea wall” and hurried to take cover behind the vehicle. Sherrod beheld a traumatizing scene, which he later related in his book “Tarawa: The Story Of A Battle.”

Beside the amphtrack a dead Marine lay on the sand. He was the first of many dead Americans I saw on Betio. There was a wide streak of blood on the amphtrack, indicating that the dying man had bled a lot.

A big, red-mustached Marine walked over. “Who is he?” he asked.

“An assistant amphtrack driver, sir,” another Marine said. “Name was Cowart. He was twenty years old. He married a girl in Wellington.”

“Well, cover him up. Will the amphtrack run?”

“No, sir. We’ve tried to start it, but I guess the starter was knocked out when this man was killed.”

Sherrod stayed by the beached LVT, observing the actions of the mustachioed Marine (Major Henry P. “Jim” Crowe, battalion commander of 2/8th Marines). As he did, corpsmen began laying other dead Marines down beside Bunk Cowart. “Already the smell of death under the equator’s sun could be detected faintly,” he wrote.

Private William Cowart was officially reported killed in action by gunshot wounds on 20 November 1943. His casualty paperwork indicates “Buried on Betio Island” – but unfortunately, the exact location of the grave was not known. His remains have never been recovered.

CENOTAPHS
Honolulu Memorial, Tablets of the Missing
Mount Moriah Cemetery, Ethelsville, Alabama