| NAME: William Warren Buller |
NICKNAME: — |
SERVICE NUMBER: 440493 |
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| HOME OF RECORD: Paterson, NJ |
NEXT OF KIN: Parents, Mr. & Mrs. John Buller |
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| DATE OF BIRTH: 8/23/1920 |
SERVICE DATES: 8/26/1942 – 7/8/1944 |
DATE OF DEATH: 7/8/1944 |
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| CAMPAIGN | UNIT | MOS | RATE | RESULT | |||
| Roi-Namur | D/1/24 | 653 | Sergeant (Third MG Platoon) |
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| Saipan | C/1/24 | 653 | Sergeant | KIA | |||
| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS: Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK: Sergeant |
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Biography coming soon.
This was my Uncle Billy, someone I never got the chance to meet but heard a great deal about. He is buried with his parents in Paterson, NJ. I know that he was my son, William Rork’s guardian angel when William (named for Uncle Billy) did his 2 tours of duty in Afghanistan as a corporal in the USMC. Thank you Uncle Billy.
Hi Andrew,
Thank you for writing in. Sergeant Buller is well remembered by veterans of Company C, particularly by Mr. Glenn Buzzard. In the book “By Dammit, We’re Marines” by Gail Chatfield, Mr. Buzzard refers to Buller as “my brother when I was in the Marine Corps” and mentions how Sergeant Buller looked out for him as a teenaged PFC.
Sergeant Buller and his lieutenant, Al “The Saint” Santilli (a football star from Fordham) were both killed in action on July 8, 1944. They were trying to bring in a group of civilians when a Japanese sniper shot them. (A very similar thing happened to my own ancestor, Lt. Philip Wood of Company A, and his sergeant, Arthur Ervin, on July 5 – they were killed side by side as well.) I wrote up the account of July 8 on the site as well – there are some rarely-seen photos by W. Eugene Smith, too. You can read it here, if you like. I’m planning to eventually have biographies for every Marine on the site – it may take a while, but I’ll get to Sgt. Buller eventually.
Again, thanks for the note, and much respect to your son for his service.
Cheers,
Geoffrey
Thank you for the information. I look forward to reading your additions.
This was my Uncle Billy. I did not know much about him, thank you for the update
That was my Uncle Billy. Received a Purple Heart I believe. Thanks for the information.