Edward H. Ahrens

Private First Class Edward Henry Ahrens (November 4, 1919 – August 8, 1942) served in the Marine Raiders in the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Biography Ahrens was born on Nov. 4, 1919, in Dayton, Kentucky. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on February 3, 1942, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and underwent boot camp training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. He transferred to the Marine Barracks Quantico, Virginia on March 16, 1942.

Assigned to Company "A", 1st Raider Battalion, Fleet Marine Force, soon thereafter, Ahrens landed with that unit from at Tulagi, Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands, in the second assault wave on August 7, 1942. With Company "C", 1st Raider Battalion, securing the right flank on the beachhead, Company "A" moved inland and down the right slope of Tulagi's central ridge. Initially, the Marines were not opposed.

That evening, Company "A" took positions for the night west of a cricket ground on the island, as part of the defensive line extending along the ridge. The Japanese later launched a fierce nocturnal counterattack which drove a wedge between the two Raider companies. Isolating the latter near the beachhead, the enemy concentrated their efforts on Company "A" in an attempt to sweep up the ridge toward the residency, a former British government building serving as a Raider battalion command post. The Raiders, however, stood firm.

During the savage battle that ensued, Ahrens, in a security detachment assigned the task of protecting the Raiders' right flank, singlehandedly engaged a group of Japanese in hand-to-hand combat as they attempted to infiltrate the Raiders' rear. He was found the next morning, mortally wounded, with 13 dead Japanese soldiers around his position. In his Navy Cross citation, he was credited with killing at least three Japanese, including the attacking unit's senior officer, and aiding materially in stopping their infiltration.

Awards and decorations For his part in stopping the enemy, was posthumously awarded a Navy Cross.

Namesake In 1943, the destroyer escort was named in his honor.