Herbert R. Amey Jr.

Herbert Rauden Amey, Jr.
Herbert Rauden Amey, Jr.
Born	February 22, 1913; Ambler, Pennsylvania
Died	November 20, 1943 (aged 30); Tarawa
Place of burial	National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1935-1943
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel, USMC
Commands	2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines;
Battles / wars	World War II Battle of Tarawa;
Awards	Silver Star
Spouse(s)	Elspeth Ballou Amey (1913-1962)
Children	Herbert Ballou Amey (1941-1998)

Herbert Rauden Amey, Jr. (February 22, 1913 - November 20, 1943) was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and Silver Star Medal recipient who served in World War II.

Military Career

Amey was born in Ambler, Pennsylvania. He attended Wissahickon High School, where he was student council president during his senior year, as well as president of his sophomore and junior classes.^[1]. Thereafter, Amey attended the Pennsylvania Military College, where he was the captain of the baseball team.^[2] Upon graduating, he became an officer in the United States Marine Corps and was initially assigned to the Marine Barracks at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Amey's first overseas assignment was with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines in Shanghai, China in 1937, followed by duty at the Marine Detachment at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. In 1941 and 1942, he served as a captain with the 6th Marines in the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade in Iceland.^[3]

In 1943, first at the rank of major, then lieutenant colonel, Amey served as commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines. As such, he trained the battalion during its stay in New Zealand as part of the Second Marine Division and led the battalion ashore on D-Day of the Battle of Tarawa, November 20, 1943.^[4]. Amey was killed by machine gun fire while wading ashore, just before he would have reached the beach. The shattered remnants of his battalion were temporarily commanded by Lt. Col Irvine Jordan, before being combined with units from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines.^[5] For his actions that day, he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star Medal.^[6]

Amey was one of two lieutenant colonels killed at Tarawa (along with David X. Claude, an observer from the 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines^[7]). They were the highest ranking U.S. officers to die during the battle. Amey was temporarily interred on Betio Island at Tarawa. His remains were later transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), in Honolulu, Hawaii.^[8]