Willie Ray Graves

PFC Willie Graves served with Dog Company, 8th Marines, in the battle for Tarawa.

At midday on 20 November 1943, BLT 1-8 climbed over the sides of their transport ships and boarded LCVPs in Tarawa lagoon. They anticipated imminent landing orders, but due to the desperate situation on the beach were held offshore in their little boats, bobbing in the waves for the rest of the day and a very long night. Early on 21 November, they were ordered to land on Betio’s Beach Red 2.

At 0615, the first waves of 1-8 rushed down the ramps and into the breaking surf on a coral reef some 500 yards from shore. Although friendly troops held the water’s edge, they “immediately came under heavy machine gun fire from both flanks.” The battalion was decimated on the long walk to shore. An action report penned by the 8th Marines noted that “many of the casualties resulted from drowning, due to the heavy packs and equipment men attempted to take across the submerged fringing reef.”

The Dog Company Marines, many of them weighed down by crew-serviced weapons and heavy ammunition, were especially hard-hit during the landings; PFC Graves was last seen alive during the landing operation. When the battle ended, he was officially noted as “missing in action” – a status that was soon amended to “killed in action.” Although his battalion did not land until D+1, Graves’ official date of death is given as 20 November 1943.