Alexander “Sandy” Bonnyman Jr. joined the US Marine Corps in 1942. He had attempted to join the Army Air Corps in 1932, but was discharged soon after due to a lack of talent for flying. He was exempt from the draft because he owned a copper mining business, which was a strategic endeavor for the war effort, but Bonnyman signed up anyway. Starting as a private, Bonnyman completed basic training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. In October 1942, Bonnyman was sent to the South Pacific aboard the SS Matsonia with the 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division. He fought with this division at the Battle of Guadalcanal located in the Solomon Islands and which lasted until February 1943. Private Bonnyman distinguished himself as an excellent leader, which earned him a commission as a Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt.). Bonnyman was also involved with the fighting in the Tarawa Atoll, now known as the Republic of Kiribati, for which actions he earned the Medal of Honor.
On November 20, 1943, the invasion of Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands began. Bonnyman was the leader of the 2nd Battalion Shore Party of the 8th Marines and was ordered to handle the logistics of the beachhead at Betio Island, where the Japanese had set up a formidable defense and base. They landed at the only pier that Betio Island hosted, only to be stuck due to the openness of the pier and the excellent positions of the Japanese from which bullets rained down. Despite this, Bonnyman organized his men and safely led a small group of them down the pier to the beach where they collected flame throwers and bombs. This crew then destroyed several of the hostile installations to allow the rest of the Shore Party to join them. The next day, Bonnyman set out to put a hole in the enemy's strong defensive line. Sneakily, he crawled 40 yards to a large Japanese bombproof emplacement that had given the US soldiers much trouble and set up bombs at its entrance. Bonnyman withdrew to get more ammunition, but then led his men in an assault against the bunker which was not successful. However, by the third day of fighting on November 22, Bonnyman and his unit made it through the Japanese defenses of the bunker. More demolition charges were placed, and the US soldiers flushed out the enemy using flame throwers and grenades through the vents of the emplacement. The Japanese troops ran out of the emplacement only to fall at the hands of US Marines waiting outside. Despite hostile fire, Bonnyman and his company cleared the entire bunker from top to bottom and killed a total of 150 enemy soldiers. The Japanese attempted to retake the bunker, but were repelled by Bonnyman and the men with him. 2nd Lt. Bonnyman personally killed three of the Japanese before being fatally wounded himself. His bravery and fearlessness inspired his men to the point that they were able to defeat the counterattack and gain 400 yards of territory from the enemy with no further casualties.
Bonnyman was buried on Betio Island, in an unmarked grave along with 35 other Marines. The location of the temporary cemetery, however, was forgotten, and his body was not recovered to return to the US. After the war, it was mistakenly noted that Bonnyman was buried at sea. It was not until March 2015 that a non-profit organization, History Flight, was able to locate the cemetery, exhume Bonnyman's body among others, and return it to the US. He is now buried next to his parents in Knoxville, Tennessee.
For his actions during WWII, Bonnyman was also awarded the Purple Heart, the Navy Presidential Unit Citation, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ three bronze stars, and the WWII Victory Medal. Bonnyman was promoted posthumously to 1st Lieutenant as well.
1st Lt. Bonnyman is memorialized in several places, including a section of the Pellissippi Parkway Bridge over the Tennessee River named the Lt. Alexander “Sandy” Bonnyman Memorial Bridge. In addition, a Jr. class ship also bears his name, as well as the bowling alley at Camp Lejeune.
Sources Consulted:
Army Website, Medal of Honor Recipients, WWII
Princeton Alumni Weekly, May 13, 2009
Defense Prisoner of War, Missing Personnel Office
The Washington Post, July 2, 2015
US Marine Corps History Division
The Best of PAW (Princeton Alumni Weekly), February 7, 2001
Recommended Reading:
Alexander, Joseph H. Utmost Savagery: the Three Days of Tarawa. Naval Institue Press, 1995.
Evans, Clay Bonnyman. Bones of my Grandfather: Reclaiming a Lost Hero of World War II. Skyhorse Publishing, 2018.
US Marine Corps Forces Reserve, Headlines, September 29, 2015
