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| Cpl. Edward Maciejewski was killed during the Carlson's Raiders raid on Makin Island. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15549863/edward-maciejewski https://www.warhistoryonline.com/guest-bloggers/the-marine-raid-on-butaritari-the-true-story.html |
Edward Maciejewski never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 18, 1919 in Illinois. His parents John and Mary were born in German speaking Russia (now Poland) and Illinois, respectively. His mother's parents were from Germany. His father worked as a building cleaner and later as a truck driver. Edward had three older brothers and three younger brothers. By 1940 Edward was working as a pressman and living in Chicago. Edward attended Loyola University where he studied commerce and participated in the St Thomas More Legal Club.
He enlisted in the US Marines in October 1940. He became a corporal in the 2nd Raider Battalion. This was a special unit that was trained for special operations behind enemy lines.
Cpl. Maciejewski participated in one of the first offensive actions by Americans on land in the Carlson raid on Makin Island on August 17, 1942.
Up to that point America had lost to the Japanese Army at Wake Island, Guam, Bataan and Corrigedor. The purpose of the raid was to destroy enemy installations and divert attention from the main action on Guadalcanal. The 222 raiders dropped off on Makin by two submarines attacked the island defended by seventy plus Japanese soldiers. The offloading did not go as planned and the Americans were scattered when they landed. The raid did destroy Japanese supplies, but the extraction by submarine was equally difficult and took longer than anticipated. Cpl. Maciejewski was one of 28 Marines killed during the raid, the day before his twenty-fourth birthday. The raiders had to leave their dead behind.
In the chaos, nine live Marines were also left behind. Nevertheless, the home front was heartened by the daring raid and it made big headlines and was even the basis for the movie Gung Ho. (The movie can be found on YouTube.)
The stranded Marines held out for nearly a month before being captured. The Japanese transferred them to Kwajalein. Japan informed the leadership on Kwajalein there that no transfer of prisoners to Japan was practical. Rather than keep them prisoners there, the commanding officer ordered them beheaded on October 16, 1942. The commander was hanged for this war crime after the war.
After the war, efforts were made to recover the dead Raiders left behind on Makin Island. The grave of Cpl. Maciejewski and and eighteen others could not be found. In 1998 relatives of the dead found an islander who had helped bury the dead as a young boy who was able to find the gravesite. The remains were returned home the following year.
Cpl. Maciejewski's grave is at Arlington National Cemetery, shared with the other fallen Carlson's Raiders recovered. They were buried in a public ceremony on the 59th anniversary of the Makin Raid.
Last year on this date I profiled James Carden, 29th Infantry Division. You can read about James here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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