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bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Japan > Pacific Bases, © 2026 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 20 Dec 2025
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This webpage holds rear-area content related to the war in the Pacific Theater. 
Supporting US military operations in the Pacific required many rear-area bases, large and small, with the larger bases clustered in what I call base areas. In remote areas, most construction was by specialized units like navy construction battalions, aka the SeaBees, and army engineering aviation battalions.
By mid-1942, these bases formed a broad arc, starting at the Anchorage area in Alaska Territory, south through Hawaii Territory, then arcing south and west through numerous island chains in the south Pacific, passing through New Caledonia and finally ending in Australia.

As the War with Japan progressed after 1942, base locations followed the combat zone, moving in a generally northwest direction. When the War with Japan ended, the US military had major base complexes as far to the west as the Manila Bay area in the Philippines and Okinawa south of the Japanese home islands.

However, Hawaii, with a large cluster of bases on the island of Oahu, always remained the linchpin.
The Pacific Area - 1939
The Pacific Area - 1939
Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas webpage:
  • ​The Pacific Area - 1939 map is copied from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Pacific_Area_-_The_Imperial_Powers_1939_-_Map.svg/1280px-Pacific_Area_-_The_Imperial_Powers_1939_-_Map.svg.png.
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​Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas: 13-01 - WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas: (19 dead, updated 9 Nov 2025)
  • All rear area non combat-related deaths in the Pacific appear here.
  • Some combat deaths, such as during travel between bases, also appear here.
  • Post-WWII deaths in the Pacific areas, including Japan are also included.
1 - Territory of Hawaii:
† Heckman, Fred Herman, SN 375-78-78, US Navy, Audubon Co.
  • Came on board Destroyer USS Chew (DD-106) 9 Jan 1942, reenlisted Jul 1943; still on Chew 9 Nov 1943; d. 24 Jan 1944; (the Chew was an old destroyer that performed rear-area duties in the Pacific Theater).
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
† Edmundson, William Thomas, SN 316-87-40, US Naval Aviation, Pott. Co.
  • Naval Air Patrol Sqdn. VP-24, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii Territory; Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina BuNo 05027 crew member; KIA 13 Dec 1942, off Makapuu Point, Oahu; plane lost control & crashed into sea, two survivors; BNR.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
† Hulsebus, William Lyle, SN 620-89-09, US Navy, Shelby Co.
  • US Navy Yard, Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii Territory; DNB 9 Oct 1944 at US Naval Base, Pearl Harbor.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
† Porter, Harry Edward, SN 620-75-00, US Naval Aviation, Cass Co.
  • Naval Air Patrol Bomb. Sqdn. VPB 153, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii Territory; Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon BuNo 37101 radioman; KIA 8 May 1945 Kaneohe Bay; plane crashed shortly after takeoff on antisubmarine training patrol, all six died.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
2 - New Caledonia:
† Bull, Lester Orville, SN 37-260-503, US Army, Montgomery Co.
  • Co. B., 27th Replacement Bn., New Caledonia, South Pacific; d. 21 Aug 1943 from concussion in a truck accident.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
3 - Australia:
† Harlan, Martin Edward, SN 193156, US Navy, Guthrie & Monona Cos. (WWII-HarlanMartinE)
  • attached as a medical officer to Marine Corps in the Southwest Pacific Area; d. 20 Feb 1943 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
4 - Solomon Islands:
† Leu, Robert Carroll, SN 381-47-66, US Navy, Pott. Co.
  • Navy Signalman, unit unknown; arrived in Guadalcanal, Solomon Is. Apr 1943 from Noumea, New Caledonia on Attack Transport President Jackson (APA-18); DNB 16 Mar 1944 in fall from radio tower on Solomon Is.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
† Sorenson, Robert H., SN 675-670, US Coast Guard, Shelby Co.
  • Coast Guard cargo ship USS Serpens (AK-97); d. 29 Jan 1945 off Lunga Pt., Guadalcanal, Solomon Is.; Serpens exploded while loading depth charges; 196 Coast Guard personnel, 57 army stevedores, and two others died.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
5 - New Guinea:
† Delaney, Harlan Albert, SN 37-487-707, US Army, Montgomery Co.
  • 279th Replacement Co., Corps of Engineers; DNB 15 Oct 1944 Oro Bay, Papua, New Guinea; laryngitis & tracheobronchitis.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
6 - Philippines:
† Iverson, Elmer F. Jr., SN 0-729-176, US Army Air Force, Pott. Co.
  • Far East Air Service Command, Fifth Air Force; Douglas A-20 Havoc #44-46400 pilot; d. 20 Nov 1945 Philippines; flight from Tacloban, Leyte to Clark Field, Luzon disappeared, solo - no passengers or other crew; BNR.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas @ Fifth Air Force
† Jackson, Bryon Earl, SN 37-490-342, US Army, Montgomery Co.​
  • field artillery, unit unknown; DNB 10 Aug 1945 Dulag Bay, Leyte, Philippines; accidental drowning.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
​​​† Ocean, Jerry Floyd, SN 37-660-643, US Army Air Force --> US Army, Shelby Co.
  • Served with 496th Air Service Sqdn. near Foggia, Italy; after WW II ended in Europe, reassigned to 2750 Engineer Light Equipment Co.; left Leghorn, Italy 1 Jul 1945 on USS General William Mitchell; arrived San Fernando, Luzon, Philippines 11 Aug 1945; drowned in Marikina River, near San Mateo, SE of Manila, Philippines 17 Oct 1945.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
† Parker, Arlo Berry, SN 37-195-236, US Army Air Force, Webster Co.
  • 43rd Bomb. Gp., Fifth Air Force; DNB 7 Jun 1945, 249th General Hospital, Ft. Stotsenburg, Luzon, Philippines, cerebral hemorrhage.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
† Pettie, Vernon Gerard, SN 648-57-95, US Navy, Pott. Co.
  • Fleet Hospital #114, Leyte Gulf, Manicani Is., Guinan, Samar, Philippines; DNB 8 Apr 1945, Samar, drowning.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas; was Philippines Liberated > Leyte.
7 - Japan:
† Campbell, Sheldon Edward, SN 37-752-491, US Army, Shelby Co.
  • 24th Medical Bn., 24th Inf. Div.; DNB 23 Dec 1945 in hotel fire on Skikoku Is., Japan.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
​† Hansen, Warren Gamaliel, SN 859-83-39, US Navy, Audubon Co.
  • Landing Craft Tank LCT-785; d. 2 Jan 1946 on beach at Gushikawa, Chimu Wan, Okinawa; about 17 crew from six landing craft died when LCT-560, laden with munitions for disposal at sea, exploded.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
​† Koch, Donald Kenath, SN 17-170-459, US Army, Carroll Co.​
  • Co. B, 503rd Parachute Inf. Regt., 11th Airborne Div.; DNB 13 Dec 1945 Japan, accidental discharge of his firearm.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
† Kraschel, James Norman, SN 17-152-672, US Army Air Force, Shelby Co. 
  • 868th Bomb. Sqdn., attached directly to Thirteenth Air Force headquarters, based at Yontan Airfield, Okinawa Is., Japan; flying radar-equipped Consolidated SB-24 Liberator search bombers specializing in night missions; tail number and pilot unknown; DNB 24 Sep 1945, Okinawa, Ryukyu Is., Japan, aircraft accident after Japan surrendered.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas
8 - At sea:
† Ellsworth, Dale Stanley, SN 316-35-54, O-203406 US Navy, Pott. Co.
  • Navy Armed Guard on Liberty Ship SS M. H. De Young; KIA 14 Aug 1943; off Tonga, South Pacific; M. H. De Young torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-19 but remained afloat, towed to Tongatabu, and salvaged; three dead.
  • WWII Japan > The Pacific Base Areas