Remains of Marine 'raiders' to be returned to relatives ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brooke Rowe
PRESS
The remains of 19 World War II Marine Raiders killed in action on
Butaritari Island (Makin Atoll) and listed as missing in action since
August 1942 were recently identified, and will be returned to their
families for burial.
The remains are those of:
Capt. Gerald P. Holtom, Palo Alto, Calif.
Sgt. Clyde Thomason, Atlanta, Ga.
FM1C. Vernon L. Castle, Stillwater, Okla.
Cpl. I.B. Earles, Tulare, Calif.
Cpl. Daniel A. Gaston, Galveston, Tex.
Cpl. Harris J. Johnson, Little Rock, Iowa
Cpl. Kenneth K. Kunkle, Mountain Home, Ark.
Cpl. Edward Maciejewski, Chicago, Ill.
Cpl. Robert B. Pearson, Lafayette, Calif.
Cpl. Mason O. Yarbrough, Sikeston, Mo.
Pfc. William A. Gallagher, Wyandotte, Mich.
Pfc. Ashley W. Hicks, Waterford, Calif.
Pfc. Kenneth M. Montgomery, Eden, Wis.
Pfc. Norman W. Mortensen, Camp Douglas, Wis.
Pfc. John E. Vandenberg, Kenosha, Wis.
Pvt. Carlyle O. Larson, Glenwood, Minn.
Pvt. Robert B. Maulding, Vista, Calif.
Pvt. Franklin M. Nodland, Marshalltown, Iowa
Pvt. Charles A. Selby, Ontonagon, Mich.
The Marines were members of the Marine Corps' 2nd Raider Battalion,
killed during the August 17-18, 1942, raid on Japanese-held Butaritari
Island, during which an estimated 83 Japanese soldiers were killed.
Lt. Col. Evans F. Carlson commanded the Raiders during the operation,
and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's son, Capt. James Roosevelt, was
the operation's second-in-command. Ferried to the island by submarine
and landing on and departing Butaritari by rubber boats, the Marines
were unable to evacuate the bodies of their fallen comrades.
With the assistance of island inhabitants, including a man who
assisted in the burial of the Marines in 1942, a recovery team from
the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI)
uncovered a mass grave and excavated the remains in November and
December 1999. That operation was preceded by an initial investigation
in August 1998 and an unsuccessful recovery effort in May 1999. The
U.S. Marine Raider Association provided invaluable assistance with
firsthand information and documentation about their combat on
Butaritari.
In late 1999, the CILHI began an exhaustive forensic identification
process, including the use of mitochondrial DNA, to confirm the
identities of the Marines. Marine Corps officials, using historical
military records and more modern search techniques, located the next
of kin of each of the Marines.
Arrangements for the transportation and burial of the Marines are
underway, in consultation with the families. The first burial is
expected to be that of Cpl. Yarbrough in Sikeston, Mo. in December.
Among the remains recovered are those of Sgt. Clyde Thomason, the
first enlisted Marine awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II.
The identification of these Marines contributes to the ongoing effort
by the Department of Defense to locate and identify more than 88,000
American service members who remain missing in action from World War
II, the Cold War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
(EXCERPT) WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has identified remains of 19
Marines whose bodies were left behind after a World War II raid on
Makin Atoll in the South Pacific.
The announcement Wednesday about men listed for almost six decades as
missing in action closes a remarkable chapter in the history of U.S.
efforts to account for missing service members.
A military team searched for their bodies in 1948 but found none. In
recent years, members of the Marine Raiders Association – retired
veterans of the little-known c...
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Brooke Rowe
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
www.americanwarlibrary.com