Tarawa

[Tiki Tom]

Here is an article that says they are cracking open Punchbowl cemetery in Hawaii in an effort to identify unknown remains from the battle for Tarawa in the South Pacific.

"During the U.S. amphibious assault on Tarawa 74 years ago, Japanese machine gun fire killed scores of Marines when their boats got stuck on the reef at low tide. Americans who made it to the beach faced brutal hand-to-hand combat.... More than 990 U.S. Marines and 30 U.S. sailors were killed in the three-day battle. About 550 are still unidentified, including some still in Tarawa.... Only 17 of the 3,500 Japanese troops survived. Of 1,200 Korean slave laborers on the island, just 129 lived."​

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/military-digging-wwi-battle-remains-hawaii-cemetery-46430679

I know it has occasionally been stated how the war in Europe tends to get most of the publicity. This article is a good reminder of the ferocity of the fighting that took place to take some of those atolls and islands in the Pacific.

 

[scotrace]

Ken Burns' WWII documentary gives a good feel for the carnage at Tarawa and how families of those who died dealt with the horrible news coming from the battle.
A final identification of remains will help close chapters for many of those families. Thanks for sharing this.

 

[Stearmen]

Bloody Tarawa!

 

[Tiki Tom]

 

[Tiki Tom]

A follow-up story.
Welcome home, Marine Sgt. James Joseph Hubert.

"The one thing I remember, when my mother was still alive, was when the Purple Heart came," Mary said. "I don't remember how old I was, but I was probably no more than 4 or 5. I just remember her opening that up, and basically going down on the floor and crying."

"He's going to be coming home after all these years," Mary said, describing the event as bittersweet. "We will bring him back to Duluth and bury him where his mother is — my mother. There are a lot of other relatives that are also in Calvary Cemetery. We can honor them all."​

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/ne...ine-killed-pacific-finally-coming-home-Duluth