Homefront to Battlefront: John Michael Fahy

John M. Fahy enlistment photograph (findagrave.com)

Born in Leamington Spa, England, in July 1924, John M. Fahy’s family moved to the United States in 1925. They eventually settled in the North Sea area of Southampton, NY. John, brown-eyed and 6’ 8-1/2" tall, enlisted in the US Marine Corps on April 2, 1942. He was assigned to Delta Company, 1st Battalion of the 6th Marines of the 2nd Marine Division.

The 6th Marines' proud history included fighting at Belleau Wood in World War I, where they earned the nickname “Devil Dogs” from the Germans. On January 4, 1943, the Devil Dogs landed at Guadalcanal, where they participated in the final American offensive on the "Canal," suffering 223 casualties in six weeks. Their next mission would be even harder.

Detail from Map of the Pacific and the Far East (West Point Atlas)

Detail from Map of the Gilbert Islands, Initial Operations of the 27th Infantry and Assault by 2nd Marine Division, November 1943. (West Point Atlas)

Operation Galvanic was an amphibious assault on Tarawa atoll that took place in the Gilbert Islands of the Western Pacific Ocean. It was part of the overall American campaign to defeat Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific Ocean and liberate the Philippine Islands. The battle for Tarawa was fought between November 20–23, 1943. Most of the fighting took place on the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest corner of the Tarawa Atoll. Measuring just 290 acres in size, Betio is one-third the size of New York's Central Park! On this tiny island, 18,000 Marines of the 2nd Marine Division faced 2,500 Imperial Japanese soldiers, together with an additional 2,000 Japanese and Korean construction workers, who were deployed in well-prepared defensive positions.

Marines take shelter on Tarawa (USMC Photo No. 2-6 from the Frederick R. Findtner Collection via Flickr)

Marines Under Fire, Tarawa, November 1943. (Image: 2nd Marine Division via Flickr)

The first waves of Marines from the 2nd Division landed at 9:00 AM on November 20. They were quickly pinned down on the beach under heavy fire, many taking shelter behind a log sea wall. Some brave men eventually pushed off the beach, making way for reinforcements. As night fell on the first day, the Marines clung to the beachhead won in the day's hard fighting. The next day, the Marines continued to advance against enemy troops in concrete bunkers. Fighting was fierce and often hand-to-hand. Late in the day, the 6th Marines landed, and soon the entire western end of the island was under American control. On November 22, the third day of battle, the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines joined the attack. By evening, the fighting was over. The 1st Battalion had lost 45 killed and 128 wounded. Among the dead Marines was John Fahy.

Wrecked amtracs (amphibious tractors) attest to the bitterness of the battle (Marine Corps Photo via The Digital Collections of The National WWII Museum)

Robert L. Sherrod, a correspondent for Time magazine who landed with the Marines, later wrote, “What I saw on Betio was, I am certain, one of the greatest works of devastation wrought by man. Words are inadequate to describe what I saw on this island of less than a square mile. So are pictures—you can’t smell pictures” (Robert Sherrod, Tarawa: The Story of A Battle). In total, 1,000 Marines lost their lives, and nearly all of the approximately 4,500 defenders died. Only 17 Imperial Japanese soldiers and 129 Korean construction workers surrendered.

As the fighting wound down, the Marines began the task of recovering the dead. A somber task about which Sherrod wrote: "The bodies, as they are identified, are tenderly gathered up...I suppose they think: 'Here is the last thing we can do for these boys we have known for so long. We'll do it with our own hands'." One of those boys was Fahy, just 19 years old. His body was initially placed in a temporary grave.

Navy Lt Francis W. Kelly (Chaplain Corps) and Cpl Daniel A. Getz perform rites for the dead (Image: Official U.S. Marine Corps photo by PFC Clifford G. Jolly via Marine Corps University)

Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (American Battle Monuments Commission)

Later, after the Marines withdrew from the island, an official recovery of those killed in combat began. Although most of the dead were eventually found, Fahy's body could not be relocated, and his remains were declared “missing or non-recoverable.” Fahy was then memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

As technology improved in the decades since 1943, interest grew in renewing the search for soldiers once declared as "Missing in Action" (MIA). A nonprofit organization called History Flight partnered with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to locate the missing. In 2020, History Flight discovered the remains of more than 40 men on Betio, including John Fahy. A rosette has been placed next to Fahy's name in the Court of the Missing, indicating that his remains have been identified and returned to his family.

Learn more about John Fahy and other Southampton heroes at Homefront to Battlefront: Southampton during WWII, the Southampton History Museum's revolving display featuring the legacies and sacrifices of Southampton's citizens during World War II. The exhibition is open Saturdays from 11 AM to 4 PM at Veterans Memorial Hall in Southampton Village.

As the voices of the "Greatest Generation" grow fainter with time, we invite you to help preserve their memory and honor heroes like John Fahy. If you have a loved one who served or lived through World War II, we welcome you to share their story with us by clicking on this link: https://forms.gle/ZXxMabyJQyGvjc3m7