[byf45]

Edward "Cam" Farmer, Jr., joined the Marine Corps while attending Dartmouth University. He earned his commission in 1941, just prior to America's entry into WWII. He deployed with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and landed on Guadalcanal in August 1942. During the brutal battle for Edson's Ridge, Farmer was shot in the arm, and very nearly killed when another bullet grazed his scalp. He earned a Silver Star for the crucial role he played protecting Henderson Field. By the time he came home from the war, Farmer added a Bronze Star and 3 Purple Hearts to his list of medals.
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He went back to school, earning a law degree and opening his own practice in his home town of Muskegon, MI. After 18 years as a trial lawyer, Farmer was elected as a District Court Judge where he served for 24 years.
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Farmer passed away on August 16, 2015, four days shy of his 97th birthday. He was the last surviving Marine veteran from the Battle of Guadalcanal.

 

[Richard in NY*]

An incredible man, who lived an incredible life. May he rest in peace.

When I saw the photo I thought it was the actor, Richard Baseheart. Quite the resemblance.

 

[kabanchik]

I don't think any one of us today can imagine the horrors and the heartbreak that this man, and thousands just like him, went through while fighting on the "Canal". God bless him, and may he rest in well-deserved peace with his fellow Marines.

 

[Dallased]

"was shot in the arm, and very nearly killed when another bullet grazed his scalp. He earned a Silver Star for the crucial role he played protecting Henderson Field. By the time he came home from the war, Farmer added a Bronze Star and 3 Purple Hearts to his list of medals. "

And our crumbling society and sleazy media worships thugs and miscreants simply because they can run fast or pretend to act or sing.

 

[ncreptile]

Wow, you would have thought there would be a few more of them left.
Out of 16,000,000 there's apparently less than 250,000 WW2 Veterans still around.
Another 10 years and none will be left. Certainly most all of the officers are gone by now.

My neighbor about 10 years ago was a D-Day +1 vet. I always wanted to talk to him but a lot of these guys don't want to be reminded of the war(while others seem to want to give their knowledge openly with no pain felt bringing it up). I talked with his wife and she told me he would have horrible night terrors about the war or wake up and rush onto the back porch with a rifle.

Occasionally I'll still see one or two at the diner. I always want to walk up and start a conversation but that conversation I had with that vets wife before always comes to mind and I think better of it.

Sad to see them dying off so quickly. And I agree with the last post.. They sacrificed so much and our nation has turned on itself. More divided and disgusting than ever before. How fall we've fallen since our patriotic high just after 9/11

 

[FrankUSMC]

My close friend, was a Marine veteran of Guadalcanal. He also had a camera with him and took some pictures that would not be allowed today. His family told me, he would have horrible nightmares about his time there, but the nightmares were NOT of his combat, but of what he saw in the native villages. His nightmares were what the natives did to Japanese soldiers when they captured them. He told me the Japanese were brutal to the natives, and they did not forget it.
One of the few, Frank USMC RET

 

[eastbank]

my late uncle also told me about how bad the japanese soldiers were to the civilans in manila phillipines.

 

[Caribou]

The US did some serious "Island hopping" then.

My grandfather Charles, 3rd Marines, recovered at Guadalcanal, at the hospital they built there after taking the island.
Before Christmas, '44, he was wounded by a Kamikaze attack on his carrier, Marcus Island, and flown there.
Shrapnel through his thigh and scrotum, he was lucky to father my mom and aunt a few years later.
Then he was placed into the 3rd Marine replacements and off to Iwo Jima in late February.
Come April he want back to the states.

 

[Larry Cushman]

Edward "Cam" Farmer, Jr., joined the Marine Corps while attending Dartmouth University. He earned his commission in 1941, just prior to America's entry into WWII. He deployed with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and landed on Guadalcanal in August 1942. During the brutal battle for Edson's Ridge, Farmer was shot in the arm, and very nearly killed when another bullet grazed his scalp. He earned a Silver Star for the crucial role he played protecting Henderson Field. By the time he came home from the war, Farmer added a Bronze Star and 3 Purple Hearts to his list of medals.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀I don’t think his passing was the last marine who fought on the Canal. A member of our gun club “Fairfax Rod & Gun Club” in VA , Jim “Horse” Smith was still around in 12/20. He may still be with us. I haven’t seen him in a while. He did presentation at WWII museum in NOLA and Quantico, VA. Close to 100 years old.
He went back to school, earning a law degree and opening his own practice in his home town of Muskegon, MI. After 18 years as a trial lawyer, Farmer was elected as a District Court Judge where he served for 24 years.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Farmer passed away on August 16, 2015, four days shy of his 97th birthday. He was the last surviving Marine veteran from the Battle of Guadalcanal.

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[toot]

RIP, a true hero!

 

[panzerfaust44]

Technically he was not the last USMC Guadalcanal vet to pass away in 2015.


SIDNEY PHILLIPS passed in Sept. 2015. He was Eugene Sledge's buddy.


And to be on the safe side.........there might have been a few others who passed in recent years.......I wouldnt doubt it.

 

[milprileb]

I think his post war career speaks of the kind of man he was. Always stepping up to lead and make a difference.
Consider this, he volunteered for Marines, sought to get a commission so he could lead Marines in combat, then did
exactly that as a Company Grade officer (and at the platoon / company level---- that is where combat is done as an officer). He stepped up as a young man to do all that in WWII and continued his life doing the right things.

Great loss for America , we need more of such men / women for our national survival.

 

[Mike]

I grew up in a small rural community that has always has a significant veteran population.
If not wars, simply a way to get away from low employment opportunity and find a way to prosper.
Some still view service as a right of passage and have a bit of disdain for those who duck it.
I digress...I serve on the firing party and salute with the local American Legion. We have buried most all the WW2 vets.
I can think of one surviving combat vet, but he is not in good shape.
The average age in our party is over 70.
We'll do what we can while we can.

 

[ITWORKEDOUT]

Byf,

Thanks for posting... Very Interesting!