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| Brothers William and Gus Jay both served in the 2nd Marine Division. William was killed at Tarawa. Gus was killed at Saipan. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55038742/william-rufus-jay https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55079785 |
William Rufus Jay never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on February 24, 1920 in Arkansas. His parents Harry and Hallie were born in Arkansas and Kentucky, respectively. The family moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in the 1920s. Harry worked as a farmer and later as a packing plant foreman. Still later he worked in the pickle department in a meat packing company. William had two older brothers, one older sister, two younger brother, and four younger sisters. By 1940 Rufus had completed three years of high school and was still living at home.
William, along with his brother Gus, seven years his senior, both volunteered for the US Marine Corps on July 9, 1940. The both ended up in the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. William was a tech sergeant in Company H. Gus was a staff sergeant in Company F.
The 2nd Marine Regiment first saw action on Guadalcanal from August 1942 to January 1943. It was next sent to New Zealand for rest and refitting.
The 2nd MD was part of the Battle of Tarawa. William Jay was killed on November 21, 1943, the second day of the battle. By that time the 2nd Battalion supplies of ammunition and food ere all but gone and casualties were so high that further offensive action was not possible. At one point the battalion commander reported that William's Company H was down to one machine-gun platoon and Gus's Company F had 10 men. Gus probably learned of his brothers death that day or soon after.
The 2nd MD was next assigned to the Battle of Saipan which began on June 15, 1944. Gus Jay's company came under Japanese tank attack throughout the night of June 16/17 and he may have been killed at that point, one of 19 casualties from Company F. One machine-gun alone went through an incredible 10,000 rounds defending against the unsuccessful Japanese attack.
Both men left widows. Gus's wife was named Hazel. William married Margaret Allen in New Zealand in July 1943 while the 2nd Marine Division was in training there. They had one son who never met William.
The Jay brothers' graves are at Memorial Park Cemetery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Last year on this date I profiled Saipan fallen Edward Buckshot, 2nd Marine Division. You can read about Edward 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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