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Casualty Info
Home Town Polkville, NJ
Last Address Dayton, OH
Casualty Date Jun 18, 1945
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Sea of Japan
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
Wall/Plot Coordinates Court 3 (cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
The USS Bonefish (SS-223) was on a war patrol in the Sea of Japan with two other submarines. Her last communication was during a rendezvous on June 18, 1945. Captured Japanese records indicate that a Japanese vessel was sunk on June 19th and that during an intense counterattack a submarine was sunk with all hands. It is presumed that this was the USS Bonefish. Chief Motor Machinists Mate Fuller was officially declared dead 15 July 1946.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 2798384
Navy Unit Commendation
For outstanding heroism in action during the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth War Patrols in enemy Japanese-controlled areas of the Pacific. Harassed continually and several times bombed by watchful and aggressive enemy aircraft, the USS Bonefish boldly penetrated the most forward combat areas to effect wide coverage of her assigned sectors and strike fiercely at important Japanese surface targets. Consistently ready for combat under the superb handling of her gallant officers and men, she defied heavy escort screens; she developed her contacts with determined aggressiveness and launched gunfire and torpedo attacks despite the severest hostile countermeasures to sink or damage many ships vital to the enemy's continued persecution of the war. In addition to her valiant combat achievements, the Bonefish rendered splendid lifeguard services during air strikes against hostile territory, effecting the rescue of two friendly pilots. Her outstanding record of success under the hazards and difficulties of prolonged patrols reflects the highest credit upon the Bonefish, her courageous, fighting ship's company and the United States Naval Service.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Guadalcanal Campaign (1942-43)
From Month/Year
August / 1942
To Month/Year
February / 1943
Description The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
On 7 August 1942, Allied forces, predominantly American, landed on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern Solomon Islands with the objective of denying their use by the Japanese to threaten the supply and communication routes between the US, Australia, and New Zealand. The Allies also intended to use Guadalcanal and Tulagi as bases to support a campaign to eventually capture or neutralize the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. The Allies overwhelmed the outnumbered Japanese defenders, who had occupied the islands since May 1942, and captured Tulagi and Florida, as well as an airfield (later named Henderson Field) that was under construction on Guadalcanal. Powerful US naval forces supported the landings.
Surprised by the Allied offensive, the Japanese made several attempts between August and November 1942 to retake Henderson Field. Three major land battles, seven large naval battles (five nighttime surface actions and two carrier battles), and continual, almost daily aerial battles culminated in the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November 1942, in which the last Japanese attempt to bombard Henderson Field from the sea and land with enough troops to retake it was defeated. In December 1942, the Japanese abandoned further efforts to retake Guadalcanal and evacuated their remaining forces by 7 February 1943 in the face of an offensive by the US Army's XIV Corps, conceding the island to the Allies.
The Guadalcanal campaign was a significant strategic combined arms victory by Allied forces over the Japanese in the Pacific theatre. The Japanese had reached the high-water mark of their conquests in the Pacific, and Guadalcanal marked the transition by the Allies from defensive operations to the strategic offensive in that theatre and the beginning of offensive operations, including the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and Central Pacific campaigns, that resulted in Japan's eventual surrender and the end of World War II.
