Remember... James Edward Findley 1923-1944 "Semper Fi!" Marine Corps motto

James Edward Findley was born on June 5, 1923, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, to Elijah Franklin (known as Frank) Findley and Mary Lelia (known as Lelia) Hansford Findley. According to the 1930 Federal Census, the family lived in Clarksburg, where Mr. Findley worked in a retail grocery store as a salesman. At home were James and his sister Pauline. Their brother Paul was no longer living there. In 1932, Mr. Findley died. In 1940, Lelia, Pauline, and James were still living together. Pauline was, then, a public school teacher. James attended Washington Irving High School. In 1941, Mrs. Findley died of Hodgkin's disease.

By 1942, James had graduated from high school and was employed by National Carbon Company (later a division of Union Carbide). He registered for military service on June 30, 1942. At that time, he was living with his sister.

James Findley enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on September 18, 1942. He took basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, and also trained in New River, North Carolina. He graduated from the Marine Armament School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ("Bodies of Three County War Dead Enroute to City," Clarksburg Daily Telegram, 29 October 1947.) He was then placed with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Regiment, 22nd Marine Infantry. The 22nd was deployed to the Pacific Theater.

In early 1944, U. S. military command decided to conduct phased attacks on the Eniwetok atoll with the goal of taking the islands as part of the Marshall and Gilbert Islands campaign. The strategy for the attack on the small islands was to bombard the strongholds from Navy ships and follow with infantry invasions. The attacks on the islands lasted from February 17 through February 23, 1944, with continuing operations finishing up pockets of resistance in the days that followed. The U.S. forces took Engebi and moved on to Eniwetok, with Parry Island the last on the roster.

Landing craft heading for Eniwetok Island on 19 February 1944. U.S. Army [public domain] photo in: Philip A. Crowl and Edmund G. Love: United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific - Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls.

A summary of activity during those six days of appears in a Stamford Historical Society article:

Naval bombardment of Eniwetok began 17 February, while the 22nd Marine Regiment, commanded by Col. John T. Walker, landed on Engebi Island, on the north side of the atoll, a day later. Engebi was secured within six hours with only light resistance offered. More than 1200 Japanese, Koreans and Okinawans were on Engebi, only 19 surrendered. Captured information suggested a similarly light defense on Eniwetok, so the bombardment on the island was short prior to the landing of the 1st and 3rd Batallions [sic] of the 106th Infantry Regiment on February 19th. Unfortunately the Japanese were well entrenched on the island and the U.S. advance was halted under heavy fire. The island was not secured until 21 February. More than 800 Japanese defenders died on Eniwetok alone, compared with 37 U.S. troops. On Parry Island no assumptions of light Japanese defense were made, but instead the battleships Tennessee and Pennsylvania and other ships shelled the island with more than 900 tons of explosives. Battleships moved to within 1500 yards of the shore to fire on Japanese positions. When the 22nd Marines landed on 22 February, resistance was light and by 23 February the whole atoll had fallen to the American forces.

By the end of the battle the Americans had suffered 262 killed, 77 missing and 757 wounded. The Japanese lost 2677 killed, 16 Japanese captured and 48 laborers captured. ("The Battle of Eniwetok," Pride and Patriotism: Stamford's Role in World War II, accessed 24 November 2021, https://www.stamfordhistory.org/ww2_eniwetok.htmv.)

The objective of taking the islands so that the Allied force would have an airfield and harbor to support attacks against the Mariana Islands to the northeast was achieved.

The U.S. Navy hospital ship USS Solace (AH-5) at anchor. U.S. Navy photo

According to the article "Bodies of Three County War Dead Enroute to City," James Finley was fatally wounded on Parry Island but died aboard the USS Solace, a hospital ship.

James Findley was first buried on Japtan Island. In 1947, he was disinterred and removed to Clarksburg. He was buried in Elkview Cemetery, not far from the family home, on November 1, 1947.

James Findley was not the only fallen hero in the Findley family. James Findley's first cousin, Charles Findley, was born in Montana but lived in West Virginia when he was a child. His family maintained strong ties to West Virginia, though the family lived in Washington, D.C., in the 1940s. Charles Findley attended West Virginia University and Georgetown University. After graduation, he worked in Washington, D.C., for a bank, but when he registered for military service, he did so in Clarksburg and gave a Clarksburg address as his residence while listing his parents' address as his mailing address in Washington, D.C. He joined the Army and was enlisted into the Army Air Corps. In 1945, Charles Findley died in a military plane crash in Kansas. He is buried in the family plot in Elkview Cemetery, Clarksburg, as are his parents, Andrew Judson and Ida Mercer Findley.

Grave markers in Elkview Cemetery for James E. Findley and Charles W. Findley, his cousin. Courtesy Cynthia Mullens

James Findley's brother Paul was also a World War II veteran, having served in the Army from 1942 to 1945.

Article prepared by Cynthia Mullens
December 2021

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