USMCR World War II
PFC Walter A. Beard MIA/KIA from location Solomon Islands, date of loss November 17, 1943
He was killed in action on 17 November 1943, when the transport USS McKean (APD-5) was sunk off the coast of Bougainville.
Unit Company I, 3rd Battalion,21st Marines 3rd Marine Division, FMF
Hometown:Granger Texas
Mother, Mrs. Mary L. Beard
service# 417609
Awards: World War II Victory Medal, Purple Heart
Private Beard appears Tablets of the Missing Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Philippines. His memorial Granger City Cemetery is a cenotaph his body was never recovered.
Details of career here.
PFC Walter Beard and his unit were embarked on the USS McKean (APD-5), an old destroyer converted to a high-speed troop transport, en route from their camp at Guadalcanal to the fighting front at Bougainville.
At 0350 hours on 17 November 1943, just a few miles from Bougainville, a lone Japanese "Val" bomber wove through the convoy and launched a torpedo. McKean's batteries opened fire, splashing the attacker while the ship tried to maneuver out of danger. The torpedo hit the McKean's starboard side, detonating a magazine and rupturing oil storage tanks. In less than a minute, "the entire ship aft of #1 stack was a complete mass of flames…. It was impossible to go aft of #1 stack, or for anyone aft of the stack to get forward."
Troops in the forward part of the ship began leaping overboard. "Every person that jumped early was dragged into the burning oil slick by the motion of the ship," noted the ship's action report. "The greater part of the troops that were lost were burned to death in the oil slick." Lieutenant Commander Ralph Ramey later commented that "Everybody forward of No. 1 stack was saved except 30 or 40 Marines who went over the side too soon and were washed back into the flaming oil which covered the sea."
The McKean sank at 0418. Nearby destroyers plucked soaked, shocked survivors from the sea. Early reports showed that 64 members of the crew were dead or missing, along with 56 of the embarked Marines. Once all the wounded were tallied, the number of missing Marines stood at 39.
Beard's Casualty Card states "It is believed that this man was so badly burned in the resulting oil fire that the body could not be recovered."
PFC Walter A. Beard MIA/KIA from location Solomon Islands, date of loss November 17, 1943
He was killed in action on 17 November 1943, when the transport USS McKean (APD-5) was sunk off the coast of Bougainville.
Unit Company I, 3rd Battalion,21st Marines 3rd Marine Division, FMF
Hometown:Granger Texas
Mother, Mrs. Mary L. Beard
service# 417609
Awards: World War II Victory Medal, Purple Heart
Private Beard appears Tablets of the Missing Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Philippines. His memorial Granger City Cemetery is a cenotaph his body was never recovered.
Details of career here.
PFC Walter Beard and his unit were embarked on the USS McKean (APD-5), an old destroyer converted to a high-speed troop transport, en route from their camp at Guadalcanal to the fighting front at Bougainville.
At 0350 hours on 17 November 1943, just a few miles from Bougainville, a lone Japanese "Val" bomber wove through the convoy and launched a torpedo. McKean's batteries opened fire, splashing the attacker while the ship tried to maneuver out of danger. The torpedo hit the McKean's starboard side, detonating a magazine and rupturing oil storage tanks. In less than a minute, "the entire ship aft of #1 stack was a complete mass of flames…. It was impossible to go aft of #1 stack, or for anyone aft of the stack to get forward."
Troops in the forward part of the ship began leaping overboard. "Every person that jumped early was dragged into the burning oil slick by the motion of the ship," noted the ship's action report. "The greater part of the troops that were lost were burned to death in the oil slick." Lieutenant Commander Ralph Ramey later commented that "Everybody forward of No. 1 stack was saved except 30 or 40 Marines who went over the side too soon and were washed back into the flaming oil which covered the sea."
The McKean sank at 0418. Nearby destroyers plucked soaked, shocked survivors from the sea. Early reports showed that 64 members of the crew were dead or missing, along with 56 of the embarked Marines. Once all the wounded were tallied, the number of missing Marines stood at 39.
Beard's Casualty Card states "It is believed that this man was so badly burned in the resulting oil fire that the body could not be recovered."
USMCR World War II
PFC Walter A. Beard MIA/KIA from location Solomon Islands, date of loss November 17, 1943
He was killed in action on 17 November 1943, when the transport USS McKean (APD-5) was sunk off the coast of Bougainville.
Unit Company I, 3rd Battalion,21st Marines 3rd Marine Division, FMF
Hometown:Granger Texas
Mother, Mrs. Mary L. Beard
service# 417609
Awards: World War II Victory Medal, Purple Heart
Private Beard appears Tablets of the Missing Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Philippines. His memorial Granger City Cemetery is a cenotaph his body was never recovered.
Details of career here.
PFC Walter Beard and his unit were embarked on the USS McKean (APD-5), an old destroyer converted to a high-speed troop transport, en route from their camp at Guadalcanal to the fighting front at Bougainville.
At 0350 hours on 17 November 1943, just a few miles from Bougainville, a lone Japanese "Val" bomber wove through the convoy and launched a torpedo. McKean's batteries opened fire, splashing the attacker while the ship tried to maneuver out of danger. The torpedo hit the McKean's starboard side, detonating a magazine and rupturing oil storage tanks. In less than a minute, "the entire ship aft of #1 stack was a complete mass of flames…. It was impossible to go aft of #1 stack, or for anyone aft of the stack to get forward."
Troops in the forward part of the ship began leaping overboard. "Every person that jumped early was dragged into the burning oil slick by the motion of the ship," noted the ship's action report. "The greater part of the troops that were lost were burned to death in the oil slick." Lieutenant Commander Ralph Ramey later commented that "Everybody forward of No. 1 stack was saved except 30 or 40 Marines who went over the side too soon and were washed back into the flaming oil which covered the sea."
The McKean sank at 0418. Nearby destroyers plucked soaked, shocked survivors from the sea. Early reports showed that 64 members of the crew were dead or missing, along with 56 of the embarked Marines. Once all the wounded were tallied, the number of missing Marines stood at 39.
Beard's Casualty Card states "It is believed that this man was so badly burned in the resulting oil fire that the body could not be recovered."
PFC Walter A. Beard MIA/KIA from location Solomon Islands, date of loss November 17, 1943
He was killed in action on 17 November 1943, when the transport USS McKean (APD-5) was sunk off the coast of Bougainville.
Unit Company I, 3rd Battalion,21st Marines 3rd Marine Division, FMF
Hometown:Granger Texas
Mother, Mrs. Mary L. Beard
service# 417609
Awards: World War II Victory Medal, Purple Heart
Private Beard appears Tablets of the Missing Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Philippines. His memorial Granger City Cemetery is a cenotaph his body was never recovered.
Details of career here.
PFC Walter Beard and his unit were embarked on the USS McKean (APD-5), an old destroyer converted to a high-speed troop transport, en route from their camp at Guadalcanal to the fighting front at Bougainville.
At 0350 hours on 17 November 1943, just a few miles from Bougainville, a lone Japanese "Val" bomber wove through the convoy and launched a torpedo. McKean's batteries opened fire, splashing the attacker while the ship tried to maneuver out of danger. The torpedo hit the McKean's starboard side, detonating a magazine and rupturing oil storage tanks. In less than a minute, "the entire ship aft of #1 stack was a complete mass of flames…. It was impossible to go aft of #1 stack, or for anyone aft of the stack to get forward."
Troops in the forward part of the ship began leaping overboard. "Every person that jumped early was dragged into the burning oil slick by the motion of the ship," noted the ship's action report. "The greater part of the troops that were lost were burned to death in the oil slick." Lieutenant Commander Ralph Ramey later commented that "Everybody forward of No. 1 stack was saved except 30 or 40 Marines who went over the side too soon and were washed back into the flaming oil which covered the sea."
The McKean sank at 0418. Nearby destroyers plucked soaked, shocked survivors from the sea. Early reports showed that 64 members of the crew were dead or missing, along with 56 of the embarked Marines. Once all the wounded were tallied, the number of missing Marines stood at 39.
Beard's Casualty Card states "It is believed that this man was so badly burned in the resulting oil fire that the body could not be recovered."
Inscription
Pfc., U.S. Marine Corps, World War II
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Texas.
Family Members
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