Herbert Raudenbusch Amey Jr. (February 22, 1913 – November 20, 1943) was a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

lieutenant colonel and

Silver Star Medal The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an ...

recipient who served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life and military career

Amey was born in

Ambler, Pennsylvania Ambler is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia. History Lenape The historical territ ...

. He attended Ambler High School, where he was

student council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

president during his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year, as well as president of his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

and

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

classes. Thereafter, Amey attended the

Pennsylvania Military College Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in 1821, the university was known as the Pennsylvania Military College until 1972. Widener enrolls approximately 3,500 undergraduate students across s ...

, where he was the captain of the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

team. Upon graduating, he became an officer in the

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 Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1937, followed by duty at the Marine Detachment at the U.S. Embassy in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. In 1941 and 1942, he served as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

with the 6th Marines in the

1st Provisional Marine Brigade The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade was a marine brigade of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) that existed periodically from 1912 to 1950. It was an ad hoc unit formed for specific operations and not considered a "permanent" USMC unit. The br ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. As a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, Amey was battalion executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines during its action on

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

in early 1943.

Tarawa

In 1943, first at the rank of

, then lieutenant colonel, Amey served as

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the

2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines 2d Battalion, 2d Marines (2/2) is a light infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Also known as "The Warlords", it consists of approximately 1,000 marines and sailors and ...

. As such, he trained the

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

during its stay in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

as part of the Second Marine Division and led the battalion ashore on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

of the

Battle of Tarawa The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Am ...

, November 20, 1943. 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 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines (1/2) (pronounced "one-two") is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, consisting of approximately 900 Marines and sailors. The battalion, ca ...

. For his actions that day, Amey was posthumously awarded the

. Amey was one of two lieutenant colonels killed at Tarawa, along with David Kerr Claude, an observer from the

1st Battalion, 23rd Marines 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines (1/23) is one of 32 infantry battalions in the United States Marine Corps, and one of only eight battalions found in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. It is located throughout Texas and Louisiana consisting of ...

. They were the highest ranking Marine Corps officers to die during the battle.

Silver Star citation

Citation:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Colonel Herbert R. Amey, Jr. (MCSN: 0-5099), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as Commanding Officer, Second Battalion, Second Marines, SECOND Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, 20 November 1943. After completing organization of assault waves incident to landing on the well-fortified Japanese beachhead, Lieutenant Colonel Amey gallantly led his battalion forward in the face of devastating machine gun and mortar fire. When the amphibious tractor in which he was riding reached an unsurpassable coral reef, he was forced to abandon the vehicle in order to save it and led his men on through the treacherous waters. Mortally wounded by hostile machine gun fire before reaching the shore, he refused assistance and urged his command to continue without him. His brilliant leadership, great personal valor and unrelenting devotion to duty in the face of grave peril served as an inspiration to the men under his command and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amey, Herbert Recipients of the Silver Star 1913 births 1943 deaths United States Marine Corps colonels People from Ambler, Pennsylvania United States Marine Corps personnel killed in World War II Military personnel from Pennsylvania