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Pamela LaVerne Jeans-Historian
to remember
Marine Capt Donald Gregory Ryan.
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Contact Info
Home Town Canby
Last Address Highmore, South Dakota
MIA Date Dec 16, 1943
Cause MIA-Finding of Death
Reason Unknown, Not Reported
Location Vanuatu
Location of Memorial Manila American Cemetery - Taguig City, Philippines
Donald G. Ryan was born on July 4, 1919, in Canby, Minnesota. Two years later, he and his parents, Laura and Jerry Ryan, moved to Highmore, South Dakota, where his sister, Kathryn, was born. Don enjoyed school and was active in football, basketball, and track. During Donald�??s senior year, he was student body president. He attended a boy�??s camp every summer and when he was seventeen, became a counselor there. After high school, Don attended the University of Minnesota. He had many friends and led a happy life during those years. After finishing college in June of 1941, Donald enlisted as an aviation cadet at the Minneapolis Naval Reserve Aviation Base. On October of 1941, he was sent to the United States Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he was chosen for the Marine Corps Reserve. He became a 2nd Lieutenant and received his wings on July 2, 1942. Don trained in aircraft carrier landing at the Great Lakes Naval Air Station before being sent to the Marine Air Base in San Diego, California, in August of 1942. On February 1, 1943, he was promoted to captain. Donald�??s first letter aboard ship, destination unknown, was dated February 10, 1943.Donald�??s squadron was sent on training missions from Hawaii and Midway. Their theater of operation was the Asiatic-Pacific with major bombings on Bougainville. On December 16, 1943, his dive bomber, with him and his radioman-tail gunner aboard, was reported missing in action.
RYAN, Donald G, CAPT, O-011682, USMC, from Minnesota, location New Hebrides, date of loss December 16, 1943 + RYAN, Donald G., Captain, USMCR. Father, Mr. Jerry G. Ryan, Highmore, SD + RYAN, Donald Gregory, 11682, VMSB-244, MAG-21, 2nd MAW, FMF, New Hebrides, December 17, 1944, died + RYAN, Donald Gregory, Captain, O-011682, USMC, from South Dakota, Manila American Cemetery
Northern Solomon Islands Campaign (1943-44)/Battle of Bougainville
From Month/Year
November / 1943
To Month/Year
January / 1944
Description After New Georgia, the next major operation was an invasion of the island of Bougainville, which was approached by landings at Mono and Stirling in the Treasury Islands on October 25-27, 1943. A Marine division landed on the west coast of Bougainville at Empress Augusta Bay on November 1, 1943. The Marines were followed within the month by an Army division and replaced in the next month by another Army division.
It was late November before the beachhead at Empress Augusta Bay was secure. This beachhead was all that was needed, and no attempt was made to capture the entire island. Allied planes neutralized enemy airfields in the northern part of the island, and the Allied command made use of its naval and air superiority to contain the Japanese garrison on Bougainville and cut its supply line to Rabaul by occupying the Green Islands (February 14, 1944).
Despite these measures, the Japanese maintained pressure against the beachhead, mounting an especially heavy but unsuccessful counterattack as late as March 1944. Success at Bougainville isolated all Japanese forces left in the Solomons. The Japanese sustained comparatively heavy air and naval losses during the campaign, which further crippled the Japanese Combined Fleet and had a vital effect on the balance of naval power in the Central Pacific.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
November / 1943
To Month/Year
January / 1944
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Capt Ryan went missing Dec 16, 1943 was declared dead Dec 17, 1944 and was interred Black Hills Cemetery Sturgis South Dakota
