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| Platoon Sergeant William Palat served in the 7th Defense Battalion in the Ellice Islands. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46086599/william-henry-palat https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Defense/index.html |
William Henry Palat never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on August 20, 1919 in Booth Ford Bend, Texas. His parents Joseph and Frances were both born in Bohemia. His father worked as a farmer and later as a carpenter's helper. William had two older brothers, two younger sisters, and one younger brother. By 1940 his parents had separated. His mother worked the farm with help from William and his siblings. He had completed eight years of schooling.
He enlisted in the US Marines on September 30, 1941. He reached the rank of platoon sergeant in the 90mm AA Group, 7th Defense Battalion. Marine defense battalions were static units set up to defend airbases and other key outposts.
In August 1943 Marines landed in the Ellice Islands at Nanumea and Nukufetau where they built airbases and staged for the invasion of Tarawa in November. The 7th DB was sent in to protect the airfields. Sgt. Palat died of wounds at Nanumea on September 7, 1943. The Japanese bombed this location on this date.
*****UPDATE 25 MAR 2021***** This came from BashaJo via a comment:
The Japanese already had an airfield on Tarawa, and they had Mitsubishi-built “Betty” bombers there. When they realized that the Marines were constructing an airfield on Nanumea, they sent the bombers, and they bombed the island on both September 7 and 8, 1943. Sgt. Palat was part of the island’s artillery defense. He was killed during the first or second day of this bombing. His death certificate lists September 8th, so there was, not surprisingly, confusion about this. His body was not returned to his family for burial until after the end of the war. I know — he was part of my family.
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His grave is at Rosenberg Cemetery in Rosenberg, Texas.
Last year on this date I profiled Arthur Newcomb, USS Grunion. You can read about Arthur 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.
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Since the Plt Sgt died in September and Tarawa was not invaded until two months later his wound(s) were not combat related. There were no Japanese on the islands the battalion occupied prior to Tarawa.
ReplyDeleteFormer Secretary of State George P. Schultz says Plt Sgt Palat died in combat. Go to https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/11/10-most-important-things-ive-learned-about-trust-over-my-100-years/?arc404=true
ReplyDeleteI am sorry, but you are incorrect. The Japanese already had an airfield on Tarawa, and they had Mitsubishi-built “Betty” bombers there. When they realized that the Marines were constructing an airfield on Nanumea, they sent the bombers, and they bombed the island on both September 7 and 8, 1943. Sgt. Palat was part of the island’s artillery defense. He was killed during the first or second day of this bombing. His death certificate lists September 8th, so there was, not surprisingly, confusion about this. His body was not returned to his family for burial until after the end of the war. I know — he was part of my family.
ReplyDeleteI added your corrections to the blog post.
DeleteWould you like his story added to the www.storiesbehindthestars.org project? Let me know at don@storiesbehindthestars.org