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Birth and Early Life:
Gerald Stetzer was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, around the year 1922. He was raised on a farm by his parents, Wilbur and Blanche Stetzer.
Enlistment and Boot Camp:
Stetzer enlisted on December 16, 1941, and attended boot camp at MCRD San Diego. Upon completing his training, he was assigned to Company D, !st Battalion, 2nd Marines.
Wartime Service:
Stetzer probably received additional training in heavy machine guns or mortars; his company was the heavy weapons unit for the battalion. His regiment left the United States in mid 1942, and sailed for the Solomon Islands
Date Of Loss:
PFC Stetzer's battalion landed on Florida Island, a small island off the coast of Guadalcanal, on August 7, 1942. They were in support of the invasions of Tulagi, Gavutu, and Guadalcanal itself, and met little if any resistance. Exactly what happened to Stetzer is unknown, but he never left the island. Even his immediate superiors seemed to have little idea of his fate; he was carried on the company's muster rolls until April, 1943, with the notation of sick in hospital until someone came to the realization that he had been killed the previous August. Stetzer was likely the first combat fatality suffered by the regiment during the war.
Next Of Kin:
Father, Mr. Wilbur Stetzer
Status Of Remains:
Unknown.
Memorial:
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Philippines.
Guadalcanal Campaign (1942-43)/Battle of Tulagi (including First Savo)
From Month/Year
August / 1942
To Month/Year
August / 1942
Description
The Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, between the forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied (mainly United States (U.S.) Marine) ground forces. It took place from 7–9 August 1942 on the Solomon Islands, during the initial Allied landings in the Guadalcanal campaign.
In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, successfully landed and captured the islands of Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanambogo among which the Japanese Navy had constructed a naval and seaplane base. The landings were fiercely resisted by the Japanese Navy troops who, outnumbered and outgunned by the Allied forces, fought and died almost to the last man.
At the same time that the landings on Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo were taking place, Allied troops were also landing on nearby Guadalcanal, with the objective of capturing an airfield under construction by Japanese forces. In contrast to the intense fighting on Tulagi and Gavutu, the landings on Guadalcanal were essentially unopposed. The landings on both Tulagi and Guadalcanal initiated the six-month long Guadalcanal campaign and a series of combined-arms battles between Allied and Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands area.
