Willard Keith

Willard Woodward Keith, Jr. (June 13, 1920 – November 3, 1942) was a United States Marine Corps infantry officer who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic leadership during World War II in the Matanikau Offensive of the Guadalcanal Campaign. Two cancelled United States Navy destroyer escorts and the destroyer USS Willard Keith (DD-775) were named in his honor. H His father was the Southern California Director of Civilian Defense. He married Peggy Winchell on August 6, 1941 in Washington, DC.

He remained in the States until his unit was transferred to the South Pacific in the spring of 1942 during the build up for the first Allied offensive in that theater — the Battle of Guadalcanal. He landed with the Marines at Tulagi on Solomon Islands on August 7, 1942, during the Battle of Tulagi toward the end of the Japanese Tulagi campaign. His unit then became part of the invasion force of the Guadalcanal campaign.

Promoted to captain, Keith led Company G, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines in the initial phase of the Guadalcanal Campaign. By autumn, the campaign was still a hard-fought one. In an offensive aimed against Japanese artillery positions sited beyond the Matanikau River and within range of the important Henderson Field airstrip, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines was assigned to the left flank position.

During the November offensive, a period known as "Critical November" to the allied forces for its importance to the larger campaign in the Pacific theater, the Marines launched a coordinated assault using air, ground and maritime forces against a Japanese stronghold at Kokumbona. On November 2, during the Fourth Battle of the Matanikau, the Marines pushed the Japanese forces to the beach near Point Cruz. That afternoon, Captain Keith led his company against a Japanese strong-point that was entrenched on high ground and concealed by heavy jungle growth. The defending Japanese forces were reinforced with heavy machine guns. The Marines under his leadership continued the attack and drove the Japanese forces from their stronghold. Although the Japanese forces were annihilated, Keith was struck in the head by a bullet and killed instantly. During the battle, he was interred near the Matanikau River and he is listed as unaccounted for. Later, Colonel Merritt A. Edson, the commander of 5th Marine Regiment and recipient of the Medal of Honor, said he took pride in the type of leadership displayed in Captain Keith. The destroyer was in commission from 1944 to 1972.

The "Willard Memorial Terrace" garden was dedicated to him in the Main Quad at Stanford University. The Captain Willard W. Keith Detachment of the Marine Corps League in Beverley Hills, California was named after him. There is also a memorial for him at the Manila American Cemetery.