Identifying A Betio Cemetery
Contextual Clues Clear Up A Misconception
Recently I was asked by Nancy Lichtman, a senior editor at Leatherneck Magazine, to help source some photos and captions for an article about History Flight. I have a bunch of these on hand, so I picked out some favorites and sent them along. Included among them was a photo showing what I thought was Cemetery 27. The original caption of the photo is chopped off, but I had a pretty good source for my claim.
William Niven’s “Tarawa’s Gravediggers” is an early landmark in post-battle assessments of Betio’s graveyard landscape. Niven did a tremendous amount of detective work using only archival sources; while some of his conclusions have been disproved by archeological evidence, the book is still worth a read by anyone interested in the efforts to find the battle’s MIAs. One of the most interesting features of the book is his breakdown of burials by cemetery, with photographs of each location.
The picture in question was taken in March of 1944 by Lieutenant Commander Charles Kerlee, and was captioned only as a Marine cemetery on Tarawa – no number or location given. Niven believed that this showed Cemetery 27, and devoted several pages to a detailed analysis. I won’t repeat his entire argument, but the salient points included the large permanent-looking structures in the background (thought to be a Japanese officer’s latrine extending over the water) and the fact that the shot was taken from an elevated position such as a watch tower (with a wooden guardrail visible at the lower right of the frame). These structures, Niven wrote, placed this location along Red Beach Three. Casualty reports indicated that Cemetery 27 had two distinct rows, one longer than the other, similar to what can be seen here – and this was later proved correct by the 2015 History Flight expedition which uncovered the original burial trenches beneath a parking lot.
Niven’s analysis makes a lot of sense, and I had no reason to disbelieve him. Feeling confident in my source, I sent off the photo described as such – only to be corrected that this is, in fact, Cemetery 13. Formerly known as “Beach Red One Cemetery” (and thus obviously nowhere near Beach Red Three) Cemetery 13 was located right on the “bird’s beak” and had a reported 42 burials, 41 of which were exhumed by the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company. The site has been closed for some time.
Somewhat chagrined, I set out looking for clues in a high-resolution copy of the image. Some pretty cool little details popped out:
Of course all that is incidental to what’s going on in the foreground: rows of individual graves marked with 5″ shells and helmets.
Like Cemetery 27, Cemetery 13 was a two-row deal; casualty cards indicate thirty in Row A and eleven in Row B. And, like all other cemeteries on the island, these original markers were later removed in favor of a towering memorial cross and a finely-painted plaque commemorating those buried nearby.
On the right of the memorial cross, one can plainly see the frame of a big observation tower at the edge of the frame. This was a big strike to the Niven theory. He believed that the photo was taken from a surviving Japanese observation tower, however such a delicate structure would probably have been leveled by the heavy fighting around Red Three. The tower visible in this photograph looks new and undamaged, and was likely an American construction. I’m not an expert in the placement of Japanese fortifications in the battle by any means, so there may well have been one at Red Three, too. Regardless, this visual confirmation of a tower near the site of Cemetery 13, and a potential vantage point for a photographer.
The nail in the coffin, so to speak, came upon examination of the two graves that are offset from the main rows. In addition to the five-inch shell and helmet decor, these two are marked with crosses. This, plus the unusual alignment, suggests that they were buried sometime after the rest of the Marines in the trench which narrows down the options somewhat.
Well, bless the massive negative of the medium-format camera, because the cross on the left is just barely legible. With a little strain, one can see “McCRAW P K” on the crossbar. (There appears to be a sign or placard attached, which alas I can’t make any clearer.)
Private Paul Kenneth McCraw served with the 2nd Defense Battalion. On 28 November 1943, while on a working party filling sand bags, one of his buddies set off a land mine. McCraw died from “injuries, multiple, extreme” and, according to his unit muster roll, was “buried in unnumbered plot near scene of death.” However, his name appears on the memorial plaque for Cemetery 13.
The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company (which maddeningly refers to this site as “Cemetery 14” in their operations report) arrived here on 8 April 1946 and found “a monument cemetery [consisting] of a large cross set in concrete with chains hung from posts set in the corners. Much difficulty was experienced in finding the remains in this cemetery. Trenches and prospect excavations were dug all around the vicinity but no remains were found.” Finally, they uprooted the cross; “the remains were found under the monument,” and after nine days of digging the 604th reported finding 41 of the 42 remains alluded to on the plaque. (The outlier, Warrant Officer Bernard Shealy, is reportedly in Cemetery 33; he has not been identified.)
Name | Unit | Identified By |
PFC Robert H. Agnew | 2nd Marine Division (HQ/HQ) | 604th QMGRC |
PFC Benjamin G. Bauman | 2nd Marines (B/1) | 604th QMGRC |
PFC Nelson C. Bennett | 18th Marines (A/1) | 604th QMGRC |
PFC Roland E. Brock | 2nd Marines (L/3) | 604th QMGRC |
Sgt. Shirley M. Brown | 2nd Tank Battalion (C Co.) | 604th QMGRC |
2Lt. Marius W. Christenson | 6th Marines (HQ/1) | 604th QMGRC |
Cpl. Oscar H. Cole, Jr.* | 2nd Marines (C/1) | CILH (1947) |
PFC Willie D. Cullars | 2nd Amphtrac Bn. (A Co.) | 604th QMGRC |
Sgt. Emmett L. Dimon | 2nd Marines (K/3) | 604th QMGRC |
Pvt. Eugene D. Fouts | 2nd Marines (M/3) | 604th QMGRC |
PFC John C. Gehrig | 2nd Marines (HQ/2) | 604th QMGRC |
Sgt. William R. Gibbons | 2nd Marines (A/1) | CILH (1947) |
PFC Morris S. Gow | 2nd Marines (M/3) | 604th QMGRC |
Pvt. Roy C. Griffith | 2nd Marines (I/3) | 604th QMGRC |
Pvt. Warren E. Harding** | 2nd Marines (I/3) | Not Identified |
PFC Reuben E. Hedger | 2nd Marines (L/3) | 604th QMGRC |
Pvt. Howard Hirst | 2nd Marines (L/3) | CILH (1946) |
Pvt. Hubert C. Johnson, Jr. | 2nd Tank Battalion (C Co.) | CILH (1947) |
PFC William A. Kroll | 6th Marines (M/3) | 604th QMGRC |
Pvt. Arthur G. Kuck | 2nd Marines (I/3) | 604th QMGRC |
PFC Doyne A. Liles | 2nd Marines (G/2) | CILH (1947) |
Pvt. Paul K. McCraw | 2nd Defense Battalion | CILH (1947) |
PFC Stanley L. McIalwain | 2nd Marines (B/1) | 604th QMGRC |
PFC Ned L. Moore | 2nd Marines (L/3) | 604th QMGRC |
FM1c William E. Moran | 2nd Marines (I/3) | 604th QMGRC |
Cpl. Morgan H. O’Donnell | 2nd Marines (M/3) | CILH (1947) |
Pvt. Norman C. Oliver | 2nd Marines (B/1) | 604th QMGRC |
Pvt. Joseph W. Osika | 2nd Marines (H/3) | 604th QMGRC |
Pvt. Veral F. Parsons | 2nd Tank Battalion (C Co.) | 604th QMGRC |
Sgt. Ralph G. Roll | 2nd Marines (I/3) | CILH (1947) |
Sgt. Kenneth L. Smith | 1st Medium Tank Bn. (C Co.) | 604th QMGRC |
PFC Charles H. Sweeney | 2nd Marines (L/3) | 604th QMGRC |
Sgt. Page Warren | 6th Marines (HQ/1) | 604th QMGRC |
Capt. George R. Wentzel, Jr. | 2nd Marines (M/3) | 604th QMGRC |
PFC Leo J. Wielgus | 2nd Marines (I/3) | CILH (1947) |
PFC James R. Young | 2nd Marines (E/2) | 604th QMGRC |
“Plus Five Unknowns”*** |
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* The “Edward D. Coble” listed on the memorial plaque was buried in and recovered from Cemetery 20. This may have been a mistake for Oscar H. Cole, recovered from Cemetery 13.
** Harding’s remains have not been identified. He is a potential match for X-251, the only unresolved case from this cemetery.
*** As far as is known, these five individuals were all accounted for in the immediate postwar years. Their exact identities are not known at this time.
So, with the visible marker, and knowing that McCraw was found at Cemetery 13 and positively identified, we can now say certainly that this is the original layout of the Beach Red One cemetery. (Unfortunately, it isn’t clear who is in the other offset grave next to Private McCraw.)
We can also get a position fix using a photograph of Cemetery 11. There is no mistaking Cemetery 11; the cross-shaped layout was one of a kind. This photograph was taken later in the war, and the Cemetery 13 cross is visible in the background. (It should be mentioned that Niven correctly picks out this location in his book.) While the layout of the buildings has changed somewhat – the observation tower, for example, seems to have come down, as has the “Wobble Inn” – a distinctive screen-door building appears in both photos.
Finally, it’s interesting to note how far the memorial cross appears to be from the screen door building, as the earliest photo shows graves (including McCraw’s) just a few yards away.
Fortunately, the correction made it to Nancy on time – and the resulting article turned out great. (You can read the whole issue as a PDF by clicking the cover image at right.) It was definitely a bit of a mea culpa moment – but also goes to show how there’s always more to learn, and that even the best sources can have mistakes.
Outstanding research, Geoffrey!
In the original photo, the rear of the Japanese 147mm gun in its emplacement along the seawall can be seen to the right of the tent with the door. Clearly not Red Three! Knowing that a tower was built at the Bird’s Beak after the battle, and seeing the enemy gun emplacement, I knew it was Red One immediately.
A great point, George!
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