Warren Betha Brindley was born January 12, 1925 in Morgan County, Alabama to William Weaver Brindley, a farmer, and his wife Lillian Pearl (Adams) Brindley. Both of his parents were born in Alabama. Warren had an older sister, three younger sisters, and a younger brother. In 1930, the family was living on a farm in Somerville, Morgan County, Alabama. Warren’s mother passed away in 1939.

Warren enlisted in the United States Marine Corps 14 October 1942 in Birmingham, Alabama. After boot camp, he was sent to Parachute Training School at Camp Gillespie in San Diego, California, and then served as a Private in G Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. Private Brindley joined the 6th Marines as a replacement in New Zealand in July 1943, where the regiment was resting and refitting after six weeks of combat on Guadalcanal.

In November 1943 the 2nd Marine Division took part in Operation Galvanic, the capture of the Gilbert Islands in the Central Pacific, where it was tasked to capture Tarawa Atoll. The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region, and was the first time in the Pacific War that US forces faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings met little or no initial resistance, but on Tarawa the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man.

The 6th Marines were initially held in reserve while the assault waves stormed ashore on Betio Island on 20 November 1943, however casualties were so heavy that the entire division reserve was committed on the first day. The 6th Marines were ordered ashore the following morning. By the time Betio was declared secured on 23 November 1943 over 900 Marines were killed. The 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines were tasked with mopping up remaining Japanese on the other islets of the Tarawa Atoll. Over the next four days, they cleared each successive islet moving relentlessly north. On 27 November 1943, the battalion captured the last islet, Buariki, ending all organized resistance on the atoll. PFC Brindley was one of 33 Marines of the 2d Battalion killed in action on Buariki.

Warren Betha Brindley is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawai. He is also memorialized on the World War II Monument in front of the Morgan County, Alabama Courthouse.

Thank you PFC Brindley for your service and your sacrifice, you will not be forgotten.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story. SBTSProject/Alabama/Morgan.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at bob.al@storiesbehindthestars.org.

Sources:

1930 United States Federal Census
1940 United States Federal Census
U.S., Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Marine_Regiment#World_War_II
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65247570/warren-b-brindley
The Birmingham News (Birmingham, Alabama), 08 Jan 1944