Andrew Haldane Andrew Allison Haldane ( August 22 , 1917 – October 12 , 1944 ) , known as Andy and nicknamed " Ack - Ack " , was an officer in the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific theatre during World War II . He was shot and killed during the Battle of Peleliu . Haldane is " one of the most revered figures in the history of the U . S . Marines . " Haldane was born in Lawrence , Massachusetts and lived in Methuen , Massachusetts most of his life . He graduated from the Searles High School in 1935 . He attended St John ’ s Prep in Danvers , then Bridgton Academy in Bridgton , Maine . He graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick , Maine , where the memory of Captain Haldane is honored annually by presenting the Haldane Cup to the graduating senior who has displayed outstanding qualities of leadership and character . At Bowdoin he was captain of the football team and president of the student council , and he was voted most popular senior in 1940 . He became assistant football coach at Bowdoin in October 1941 after graduating that June . He had planned to coach for a season before joining the Marine Corps , but he was called up after coaching for a mere two weeks . He became a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 1942 , graduating from the Reserve Officers ' Training School in Quantico . He served with the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal , and was commanding officer of Company K at Cape Gloucester , where he received the Silver Star for leading hand - to - hand combat in a fight on Walt ' s Ridge . He led Company K through most of the fight for Peleliu . Haldane was shot by a Japan ese sniper on October 12 , 1944 , while assessing the area of Hill 140 during the Battle of Peleliu in the Palau Islands , three days before the Marines came off the lines . A Sea Scouts Ship was named in his honor at his old college . In Eugene Sledge ' s " With the Old Breed " . Eugene Sledge , a mortar - man in Company " K " , describes what happened to his company ' s commander in his book , " With the Old Breed : At Peleliu and Okinawa " . At the time of Captain Haldane ' s death , the bulk of Company K was operating with its parent battalion ( 3 / 5 ) on Hill 140 within the Umurbrogol Pocket . In an attempt to orient himself to the strange terrain his company was occupying , Haldane was peeking over a ridge and was shot by a Japanese sniper and was killed instantly . First Lieutenant Thomas J . Stanley succeeded him as commander of K / 3 / 5 . Stanley led Company K through the remainder of the Peleliu campaign and on to Okinawa the following spring . In his book , Sledge pays his beloved leader a personal tribute : Capt . Andy Haldane wasn ' t an idol . He was human . But he commanded our individual destinies under the most trying conditions with the utmost compassion . We knew he could never be replaced . He was the finest Marine officer I ever knew . The loss of many close friends grieved me deeply on Peleliu and Okinawa . But to all of us the loss of our company commander at Peleliu was like losing a parent we depended upon for security – not our physical security , because we knew that was a commodity beyond our reach in combat , but our mental security . . . So ended the outstanding combat career of a fine officer who had distinguished himself at Guadalcanal , Cape Gloucester , and Peleliu . We had lost our leader and our friend . Our lives would never be the same . But we turned back to the ugly business at hand . Haldane is portrayed by actor Scott Gibson in the 2010 HBO miniseries , " The Pacific " , which used Sledge ' s memoir as source material . In R . V . Burgin ' s " Islands of the Damned " . Romus Burgin , another mortar - man in Company " K " , also speaks highly of Captain Haldane in his book , " Island of the Damned : A Marine at War in the Pacific " : ( Captain Haldane ) was as well liked as any officer I knew . I never heard him raise his voice at any man . He was firm , but he was a gentleman , and compassionate . His death is also described in this book . When Third Battalion arrived to relieve the Second Battalion on Hill 140 , Everybody was warning them not to show their heads over the top . Jap snipers on the far side were alert , and deadly . But someone needed to see what was beyond the hill in order to direct the battalion ' s fire . . . Second Battalion ' s own machine gunners were dug in so low , they could hardly see what they were shooting at . They had to sight their guns by looking under the barrels . This was not satisfactory to Captain Haldane , who was himself an old machine gunner . He slithered forward a few feet and cautiously raised his head . Everybody heard a sharp " thwack " and knew instantly what it meant . Those who were close enough said his head just exploded . There was no point in even calling for a corpsman .