William Bray was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois. He attended Oak Park-River Forest High School and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1938. Before the outbreak of war in 1941 Bray joined the Marine Corps and trained at Camp Elliott in California. He first saw action on Tulagi in the early days of the struggle to wrench Guadalcanal from the Japanese. At Tarawa, he commanded Able company, 1st battalion, 2nd Marines.
Captain Bray sailed with his men from New Zealand on the APA Lee as part of the armada that approached the Gilbert Islands. The 1st battalion, 2nd Marines, commanded by Maj. Wood B. Kyle, were designated part of the regimental reserve for the landings. On D-day, 20 November, at 0958, Shoup ordered the 889 men of 1/2 to land on Red 2 and attack westward toward Red 1 where 3/2 was being mauled.1
Unfortunately, only enough amtracs to land half the battalion or two and a half rifle companies were available. After a short floating conference Major Kyle ordered Captain Bray and Captain "Maxie" Williams, CO of Baker company, to commence landing. With a "hair raising crossdecking" accomplished from higgins boats to LVT's under constant fire orginating from "the Pocket" the battalion was headed for Betio.2 By around 1030 Able and Baker companies had set out for the beach and by 1130 they were under heavy fire. Charlie, Dog, and the headquarters company had to wait until noon for the amtracs to return for a second run to the beach.
Like most of the other units attempting to land that day A and B Company, 1st battalion took heavy casualties and was scattered over Red 1 and Red 2. The amtracs carrying four officers and 110 men were forced over to Red 1 because of the fierce Japanese fire and joined with the assortment of Marines under Major Ryan. Nearly every man in two squads of Bray's A Company was hit as they leapt over the sides of the LVT when it hit the beach. Another LVT carrying a portion of B Company had only 9 men of 24 even make it to the beach.3 Capt. Bray's LVT had been hit by Japanese fire as it crawled over the reef on the way into the beach. When one of the LVT crew was killed on the trip, Bray took over the unshielded .50 machinegun and sprayed the landing beach.
Bray landed on Betio about 150 yards west of the pier with some of his company command group. Close by another 15 men from A Company had made it to the beach. With this small group Bray pushed over the seawall and ventured out as far as the taxiway but was forced back to the beach when it was apparent they were alone and unsupported.4 Bray might have been wounded in his first foray over the seawall. One report says he was shot by a sniper as he led his men over the seawall. The bullet went through the chin from side to side, taking out the lower front teeth from eye tooth to eye tooth. The sniper was immediately eliminated.5 While on the beach he organized other leaderless Marines and even a few sailors arming them with weapons picked up from the dead and wounded. His unit eventually moved forward to the edge of the northwest taxiway where they were able to reinforce B company that was under attack. These gains were made only after hours of furious small unit battles that left the survivors exhausted but still strong enough and wise enough to dig in as dusk approached.6 Here Bray and his company spent the first night in the western part of the triangle between the main runway and the taxiways.
There was no continuous defensive line on Red 2 that night, just "small groups of men who occupied shell holes."7 They only numbered between 40 and 60 men and were positioned from the center of the triangle to the edge of the northwest taxiway.8 Alexander's Utmost Savagery mentions that Maj. Kyle had inquired about Bray's company when the defensive strategy was planned for the night:
"West of Crowe's lines, and just inland from Shoup's CP, Capt. William T. Bray's Able Company, LT 1/2, settled in for the expected counterattacks. The company had been scattered in Kyle's bloody landing at midday. Bray, sorely wounded, reported to Kyle that he had men from a dozen different units in his company, including several sailors who swam ashore from sinking boats. The men were well armed and were no longer strangers to each other, and Kyle was reassured."9Fortunately there was no Japanese counterattack that first night but new enemy machine guns were positioned to cover much of the taxiway. The result was isolation for the Marines in the triangle that now included what remained of A and B company, the bulk of C company, stragglers from G and F companies, and some Marines from the second battalion for a total of approximately 150 men.10 Isolated or not Shoup ordered for the next day, November 21, an attack to secure the Black Beaches on the southern side of Betio.
Shoup's plan had called for bombing and strafing of Black Beach but this was called off when bomb fragments and bullets hit too close to the isolated Marines. Some support came from Maj. Kyle who had positioned a platoon of .30 machineguns and two .50 machineguns, salvaged by the regimental weapons platoon, on the edge of the runway to help cover the advance. At 1300 A, B, and E company from the second battalion led by their company commanders, rushed out their postions sceaming like banshees onto the main runway. They traversed through a jumble of broken trees, brush, and shell craters toward the beach finally tumbling into a series of zigzaging fire trenches. The new territory occupied by this intrepid group of Marines was about 200 yards long. Shaw remarks that if the Japanese defenses had been as formidable as those on the beach most likely few of the Marines would have survived this attack.11 While the Japanese fire was still heavy, most of the men made the 50 yard dash across the runway.
In this mad dash Capt. Bray was operating with 2nd Lt. Robert J. Harvey's platoon from A company:
On reaching the edge of the runway on the heels of the leading files...[they] ran into increased fire. The platoon took off in single file, zigzaging for a large shellhole in the center of the runway. The Japanese hit it then with three machineguns, two to the right and one to the left. The effect was devastating. Many of Harvey's men were mowed down in the open. The survivors, numbering only 12, dived into a five-foot-deep shellhole and kept down.12Japanese strongpoints on either end of the newly occupied trenches prevented the immediate expansion of the perimeter and very soon the Japanese counterattacked William's position from the eastern strongpoint. The Marines beat them back and inflicted heavy losses but this time sustained at least thirty casualties and seriously depleted their ammunition and grenades. As the afternoon wore on and turned into evening the supply situation turned critical. Ammunition and water were nearly gone. Constant harrasment by Japanese snipers and thirty wounded men caused Bray and William's to contemplate a withdrawl until a last minute resupply undertaken by the regimental operations officer Maj. Tom "The Screamer" Culhane braced the postion.13 A group of LVTs brought food, water, and ammunition. They also evacuated the thirty wounded men on the return trip. Unfortunately the churning LVT tracks had also cut the phone wire laid from Shoup's headquarters to the positions on Black Beach 2. Reinforcement came from the 75 men of Capt. Clanahan's C company joined the 60 men of B company, 15 men from E/2/2, 10 men from Regimental Weapons, a platoon of machineguns from H/2/2, and 10 men from F/2/2.14
At 1100 on D+2 the first battalion, sixth marines reached the perimeter of the position on Black Beach now commanded by Maj. Kyle. That morning was not without incident as the Marines expanded their perimeter by attacking the strongpoints on the east and west ends of the Black Beach 2. About 100 enemy soldiers were eliminated.15 B/1/2 was involved in the reduction of "the pocket" the next day, D+3.
The second day Betio was cut in two by Bray's A Company and Williams' B Company when they pushed to south shore and occupied empty Japanese trenches sometime in the early afternoon. This was definately a significant turning point in the struggle for control of Betio, probably as important as the securing of Green Beach.
Capt. Bray received the Navy Cross, the British Distinguished Service medal, and the Purple Heart for actions on Tarawa. He also saw action on Guadalcanal.
Navy Cross citation:
"For extraordinary heroism as Commanding Officer of Company A, First Battalion, Second Marines, Second Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, 2O November l943, When the amphibious tractor in which he was riding was met by intense enemy fire as it approached the beach, Captain Bray unhesitatingly manned an unshielded .50 caliber machine gun in the vehicle and, remaining steadfast at his hazardous post, directed a continuous stream of fire at hostile Positions until the tractor came to a stop on the beach. Immediately mustering his men and finding that only a small number had reached shore he promptly reorganized numerous scattered, leaderless units in the vicinity and began a determined attack inland, leading his men across the exposed taxi strip in the face of violent machine-gun, mortar and rifle fire to reinforce the battered remnants of another company despite the heavy casualties sustained by his own. Later, under his brilliant leadership, his company crossed the bullet-swept area of a fighter strip and although he was seriously wounded during the action, succeeded in capturing an important part of the south beach. Captain Bray's splendid tactical ability and indomitable fighting spirit under extremely perilous conditions reflect great credit upon himself, his gallant command and the United States Naval Service."
In 1967, Bray died of complications from leukemia that was discovered during his physical exam for promotion to General. He was 51. His last post had been assistant base commander at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Awarded the Navy Cross for action on Tarawa:
GENERAL ORDERS:
SPOT AWARD, Commander in Chief Pacific Forces: Serial 0647 (February 23, 1944)
CITATION:
"The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain William T. Bray, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service while serving as Commanding Officer of Company A, First Battalion, Second Marines, SECOND Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces at Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, on 20 November 1943. When the amphibious tractor in which he was riding was met by intense enemy fire as it approached the beach, Captain Bray unhesitatingly manned an unshielded .50 caliber machine gun in the vehicle and, remaining steadfast at his hazardous post, directed a continuous stream of fire at hostile positions until the tractor came to a stop on the beach. Immediately mustering his men and finding that only a small number had reached shore he promptly reorganized numerous scattered, leaderless units in the vicinity and began a determined attack inland, leading his men across the exposed taxi strip in the face of violent machinegun, mortar, and rifle fire to reinforce the battered remnants of another company despite the heavy casualties sustained by his own. Later, under his brilliant leadership, his company crossed the bullet-swept area of a fighter strip and although he was seriously wounded during the action, succeeded in capturing an important part of the south beach. Captain Bray's splendid tactical ability and indomitable fighting spirit under extremely perilous conditions reflect great credit upon himself, his gallant command and the United States Naval Service."
Capt. Bray's Obituary
End Notes
1. Shaw, McNulty, et al., p. 56, 61.
2. Alexander, p.
3. Hammel, p. 93.
4. Ibid., p. 93.
5. Email corresponadance, October 2000.
6. Shaw, p.70.
7. Stockman, p. 28.
8. Hammel, p.121.
9. Alexander, p.150. When Bray was wounded is unclear. Both Hammel and
Alexander imply he was wounded on the first day. His Navy Cross citation
says he was wounded in the dashing across the island.
10. Hammel, p.121; Shaw, p.84.
11. Shaw, p.84.
12. Hammel, p.171.
13. Hammel, p.142.
14. Stockman, p.32; I have not yet found the numbers for B company.
15. Shaw, p.112.
copyright 2000 T.O.T.W.
Created 11 November 2000 - Updated 20 January 2020
