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Tarawa Cemetery 25

"Cemetery 2" • "8th Marines Cemetery #1"

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Reported Burials
1943

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Memorial Markers
1944

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Remains Recovered
1946 (estimate)

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Unidentified Remains
2021

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Unaccounted For
2021

1943: "Navy & Marine Corps Cemetery 2"

The site for this mass grave was chosen on the morning of 23 November 1943 – “D+3” to the exhausted and numbed survivors of the 2nd Marine Division who made the assault on Betio. Chaplain Warren Wyeth Willard, attached to the 8th Marines, selected a relatively clear area near a Japanese well and a “cement tennis court.” The First Battalion, 8th Marines had its headquarters nearby; hence the cemetery was known to some as the “1/8th Marines Cemetery,” or “8th Marines Cemetery #1.” Willard, however, dubbed it “U. S. Navy and Marine Corps Cemetery #2” – reflecting his work in establishing Navy and Marine Corps Cemetery 1 the previous day.

By this point in his career, Willard was well-versed in the particulars of military burials, and he could make the best of the most deplorable situations. In 1942, after experiencing the bloody battle for Gavutu, he oversaw the creation of the first Marine Corps cemetery in the South Pacific; from there, he served on Guadalcanal. Working on Cemetery 1 was a tremendous task as Willard helped bury 112 men in a single day – several of them personal friends. Cemetery 2 showed every sign of being just as difficult, and Willard had a nasty shock to start his day. “In looking for bodies this morning, the first one I discovered was Bill Culp’s – the nearest of any to the blockhouse where I had been sleeping,” he wrote in his diary. “Things were thrown out of his pack. Poor old Bill!”

There he lay, my friend, my former assistant for three months in the Solomons! When he nursed me back to health after an attack of dysentery, I called him "my Angel." And now he was with the angels! Down in New Zealand he had been commissioned as a second lieutenant..... He had led his platoon in the opening attack on Tarawa, and had given a good account of himself before he fell mortally wounded. "Oh, my Lord!" were his last words. Five out of the six officers in his company were killed. He had been one of the best personal workers, one of the finest soul-winners I have ever known. His signet ring and fountain pen were removed from his body, later to be sent to his sister in the States. Tenderly we laid him away to rest.
W. Wyeth Willard
excerpt from "The Leathernecks Come Through"
2Lt. William Wesley Culp (E/2/2nd Marines)

Logistical troubles bothered the Chaplain, too. “We tried to get a tractor” – presumably meaning an amphibious tractor, or LVT – “was promised one, but [Chaplain] Kelly or someone else got it away.” A Marine captain managed to secure another machine from the beach, and soon Willard had “two long furrows” for his cemetery. He next procured a truck and personally led a working party around the secured areas searching for fallen men. Willard’s two assistants, ACk Marion Gonzales and PhM3c Edward Rosenberg helped with the identifications and record keeping. The usual errors occurred when trying to put names to bodies left unburied for days in the tropical sun. Many of the dead had lost their identification tags. Willard encouraged his men to search bodies for wallets, pocketbooks, or anything else that might assist with identification, or that could be sent home to grieving families. This gave rise to a few names on the burial roster – “M. D. Dinnis,” “A. B. Wood,” “F. E. Hester, “C. Parent Jr.” – that are not associated with Marine Corps casualties. Misspellings were common, such as “W. L. Legin” for “William W. Begin.” Still, the effort was impressive: out of 66 men buried in Cemetery 2, only two were completely unidentifiable. One had burned to death – which Willard’s team noted in place of a name – and the other was just “the buttocks and legs.” Willard collected this poor man’s remains personally.

Chaplain Willard had two close calls whilst out searching for bodies – a spent piece of shrapnel hit his collarbone, and a Japanese grenade exploded nearby – but hardly slowed down. He allowed his men a half-hour break for souvenir hunting, although he thought the practice somewhat ghoulish, and broke up a developing beer party by commandeering 25 revelers to help with his work. (“No time for a party with our dead unburied,” he noted in his journal.) Even with the extra help, the cemetery crew worked until nightfall.

At 0700 on 24 November, the 8th Marines were told to be ready to depart Betio within two hours. Willard, who was preparing for a third cemetery (he discovered 72 unburied men on a brief morning stroll) quickly organized a few men to hammer together 66 crosses. Using the records compiled by Gonzales and Rosenberg, the chaplain wrote a name on each marker and hung a dog tag, if he had one. The markers were jammed hastily into the ground – one of the last acts of the 8th Marines on Betio.

Cemetery 2 Burials as reported by Marine Corps Graves Registration

(*denotes names with documented conflicts)​

Source: Report of Gilbert Island Campaign Deceased, 2MarDiv, 26 January 1944.

Row A:

1

PFC Cecil Elliott McGhee
D/1/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/21/1943
Designated Betio X-219
Accounted for 1/27/1947

McGhee

2

Unknown Individual

This man was buried as “M. D. Dinnis” in 1943.
No casualty by that name exists

No additional information about this specific grave is available.

Unknown
(“Dinnis")

3

2Lt. Willis Albert Carpenter
A/1/18th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Carpenter

4

PFC Walter John Farat
A/1/18th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-178
Accounted for 1/27/1947

Farat

5

PFC Frank John Kellner
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/27/1946

Kellner

6

PFC William Wallace Begin
A/2nd Amphibian Tractor Bn.

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/27/1946

Begin*

7

PFC Philip Lawrence Olano
D/1/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/27/1946

Olano

8

PFC Jay “C.” Harris
A/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 4/1/1946

Harris

9

PFC William Lafayette Fish
D/1/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Fish

10

GySgt. William Rufus Jay
H/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Jay

11

2Lt. William Clinton Culp
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-179
Accounted for 1/23/1947

Culp

12

Unknown Individual

Chaplain Willard duplicated “MONICK” (see Grave 39)

This may have been a mistake for “MOSTEK”

Unknown*

13

PFC A. P. Russom
A/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-180
Accounted for 1/27/1947

Russom

14

PFC Franklin Ralph Crislip
HQ/3/2nd Marines
(attached from VAC)

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Crislip

15

PFC William Henry Soeters
HQ/3/2nd Marines
(attached from VAC)

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Soeters

16

LtCol. David Kerr Claude
H&S/23rd Marines
(attached as observer)
Silver Star

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-181
Accounted for 1/23/1947

Claude

17

PFC Jerry Frank Svoboda
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/21/1943
Designated Betio X-173
Accounted for 1/13/1947

Svoboda

18

Sgt. Ulysses Sigsbee Phelps
B/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-177
Accounted for 1/27/1947

Phelps

19

PFC Patrick James Coots
D/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-176
Accounted for 1/23/1947

Coots

20

PFC Kenneth Fred Eckhardt
A/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/27/1946

Eckhardt

21

PFC John Edward Duffy
B/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/27/1946

Duffy

22

PFC Robert Milton Jenkins
G/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-222
Accounted for 3/27/1946

Jenkins

23

Pvt. Floyd Randall Smith
A/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-175
Accounted for 2/14/1947

Smith

24

PlSgt. Joe Gurley
A/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-221
Accounted for 1/27/1947

Gurley

25

Cpl. Lawrence Melville Gautreaux, Jr.
HQ/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-220
Accounted for in 1949

Gautreaux

26

Pvt. Walter Owen Reeves
B/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 4/2/1946

Reeves

27

PFC Andrew Edward Leon Despierto
D/1/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-218
Accounted for  1/27/1947

Despierto

28

Unknown Individual

This man was buried as “A. B. Wood” in 1943.
No casualty by that name exists

No additional information about this specific grave is available.

Unknown
(“Wood")

29

Unknown Individual

This man was buried as “F. E. Hester” in 1943.
No casualty by that name exists

No additional information about this specific grave is available.

Unknown
(“Hester")

30

PFC Victor Maurice Daman
B/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-213
Accounted for 1/27/1947

Daman

31

PFC Michael Aloysius McManus
B/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 4/5/1946

McManus

32

PFC Anthony Aloysius O’Boyle
B/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 4/2/1946

O'Boyle

33

Pvt. Abner William Davies
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 4/2/1946

Davies

34

PFC Jack Harvey Krieger
A/1/18th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-224
Accounted for 1/31/2018

Krieger

35

Unknown Individual

This man was buried as an unknown in 1943. Chaplain Willard noted “pair of legs.”

USMC GRS reports as “Begin”
(see Grave 6)

Unknown*

[end of row]

Row B:

36

PFC Robert Edward Bemis
B/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 4/2/1946

Bemis

37

PFC Chester John Kubarski
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 4/3/1946

Kubarski

38

Pvt. Edward Russell Pero
C/2nd Amphibian Tractor Bn.

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Pero

39

PFC Francis John Monick
B/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Reported by Marine GRS
and Chaplain Willard
UNACCOUNTED FOR

Monick

40

PFC Frank John Kellner
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 4/2/1946

Schempf

41

PFC Richard Charles Warnes
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 4/2/1946

Warnes

42

Cpl. Merle Roy Barrows
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Barrows

43

PFC Henry Lorenz
A/1/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Lorenz

44

Sgt. Edward Laurence Simpson
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/21/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Simpson

45

PFC Charles Lamar Cantrell
A/1/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Cantrell

46

PFC Herbert Oliver Jorgensen
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/21/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Jorgensen

47

PFC Theodore Jerry Alger
A/1/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Alger

48

Unknown Individual

This man was buried as “C. Parent, Jr.” in 1943.
No casualty by that name exists

No additional information about this specific grave is available.

Unknown
(“Parent")

49

Sgt. Frank Steven Filicky
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Filicky

50

Sgt. Francis Pace Morgan
H&S/2nd Marines
(Scout/Sniper Platoon)
Bronze Star

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-202
Accounted for 1/27/1947

Morgan

51

PhM3c John Ellis Hardy
HQ/1/8th Marines
Silver Star

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Hardy

52

PFC Duane McLaren Brown
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 4/2/1946

Brown

53

PFC Gene Woodrow Cox
B/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-197
Accounted for 1/23/1947

Cox

54

PFC Edward Robert Paulauski
G/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-196
Accounted for 1/27/1947

Paulauski

55

Sgt. George Winfield Bowden
C/2nd Amphibian Tractor Bn.

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Bowden

56

PFC Raymond Milton Stephens
C/2nd Amphibian Tractor Bn.

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Stephens

57

Pvt. Thomas Jefferson Munn
A/2nd Amphibian Tractor Bn.

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 3/29/1946

Munn

58

PFC Samuel Brice Elliott
A/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Reported by Marine GRS
and Chaplain Willard
UNACCOUNTED FOR

Elliott

59

Pvt. Thomas Joseph Greenwalt
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Identified by 604th QMGRC
Accounted for 4/1/1946

Greenwalt

60

Pvt. Wilson Woodrow Hicks
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-183
Accounted for 1/27/1947

Hicks

61

PFC Raymond Paul Cywinski
B/1/8th Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-205
Accounted for 1/27/1947

Cywinski

62

PFC Russell Lee Carney
E/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Reported by Marine GRS
and Chaplain Willard
UNACCOUNTED FOR

Carney

63

PFC Marcel Joseph Krzys
H&S/2nd Marines
(Scout/Sniper Platoon)

Killed in action 11/21/1943
Designated Betio X-171
Accounted for 1/27/1947

Krzys

64

Unknown Individual

This man was buried as an unknown in 1943.
Chaplain Willard noted “burned to death.”

Final disposition unknown.

Unknown

65

Cpl. Marvin Ray Rigdon
H&S/2nd Marines
(Scout/Sniper Platoon)
Silver Star

Killed in action 11/21/1943
Designated Betio X-172
Accounted for 1/27/1947

Rigdon

66

Pvt. Donald Joseph Andrada
G/2/2nd Marines

Killed in action 11/20/1943
Designated Betio X-174
Accounted for 1/23/1947

Andrada

[end of row]

Conflicts & Discrepancies

Marine Corps GRS places PFC William Begin in Row A, Grave 35. Chaplain Willard noted that he buried “pair of legs” in Grave 35, and “W. L. Legin” in Grave 6. It is thought that “Legin” was an error for “Begin,” since Begin’s remains were readily identifiable by tooth charting in 1946.

The “unknown” in A12 may have been Private Raymond Mostek. Chaplain Willard listed the name “Monick” twice on his burial report; one is clearly an error, and PFC Francis J. Monick was also reported in B39. Mostek’s remains were identified in 1947. Monick has not been accounted for.

Beautification: Memorial Cemetery 25

Even as he was collecting bodies in November 1943, Chaplain Willard noted the beginnings of construction work around his cemetery: engineers and Seabees installing a water point for thirsty Marines to refill canteens. Within days, tents went up around the borders, followed by Quonset huts and other more permanent structures. Sailors of the garrison force walked around and between the markers on their way to carry out daily duties.

Early in 1944 the Island Commander, Captain Erl C. B. Gould, decided to reconstruct and beautify Betio’s many cemeteries into formal memorials. “Navy and Marine Corps Cemetery 2” was smoothed over and realigned to lie nicely along an access road. Coconut log borders and chain fencing were installed, along with 66 regulation crosses commemorating the men buried nearby. The final design featured two rectangular plots of 33 graves, arranged in three rows.

At some point during the occupation, the chain fence and log posts were removed in favor of a metal fence made of white-painted pipe.

Unidentified sailor with the memorial marker for Corporal Marvin Rigdon.

Grave Plot Chart, Cemetery 26, 1944.

Recovery Operations: 1946

The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company approached Cemetery 25 with the benefit of experience. This was the third Memorial Cemetery to be exhumed, and in light of the frustrations of Cemetery 33 and Cemetery 26 – where they found no remains beneath the markers – “it was decided not to waste time and dig under the markers initially,” noted 1Lt. Isadore Eisensmith. “A trench was run across the cemetery and the original burial trenches were found running at almost right angles within the cemetery.”

Digging began on 27 March 1946. The Cemetery 25 team, led by Chaplain William Kelly and Staff Sergeant W. B. Hillman, was one of Eisensmith’s best. A few days before, they had wrapped up the much larger Cemetery 26; by comparison, Cemetery 25 was a relatively quick job. It took just five days to exhume the two rows. Unexploded ordnance, which deviled teams digging in other graves, seems not to have been an issue at Cemetery 25 – or at least, a minor one that did not merit any mentions in the unit diary or Lt. Eisensmith’s operations report.

Identifying individual remains, however, continued to be a problem. Many remains had no dog tags at all; those that were found were often corroded or worn to illegibility. “Sample tags were forwarded to the CIL [Central Identification Laboratory] Honolulu, and to the OQMG [Office of the Quartermaster General] Washington,” noted Eisensmith. “The tags were returned with the statement that no printing could be detected thereon.”

Using their available dental records, the 604th managed to identify 33 of the 66 men on the original burial roster – plus two more: Corporal Jessie Lavine Birdsong (D/1/2nd Marines) and Captain Bonnie Alfred Little (C/2nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion) who were not on the list. According to research by History Flight, the 604th may have exhumed as many as 84 remains from Cemetery 25 – however, specific records for those individuals were not available to the author for this study.

Plot 1, Cemetery 25 during exhumation, March 1946. The 604th added the blue lines to indicate the direction of the original burial trenches. US Army Signal Corps photo.

Recent Activity

CILH Identifications, 1947 – 1949

A significant number of the remains exhumed from Cemetery 25 could not be confirmed by the 604th QMGRC using records available in the field. Laboratory analysis at Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii resolved twenty-five cases, including three – PFC Robert Stewart, Gunnery Sergeant Dominick Amadio, and Private Raymond Mostek – who were originally buried as unknowns.

• Betio X-167 as PFC Robert Vernon Stewart
• Betio X-171 as PFC Marcel Joseph Krzys
• Betio X-172 as Cpl. Marvin Ray Rigdon
• Betio X-173 as PFC Jerry Frank Svoboda
• Betio X-174 as Pvt. Donald Joseph Andrada
• Betio X-175 as Pvt. Floyd Randall Smith
• Betio X-176 as PFC Patrick James Coots
• Betio X-177 as Sgt. Ulysses Sigsbee Phelps
• Betio X-178 as PFC Walter John Farat
• Betio X-179 as 2Lt. William Clinton Culp
• Betio X-180 as PFC A. P. Russom
• Betio X-181 as LtCol. David Kerr Claude
• Betio X-183 as Pvt. Wilson Woodrow Hicks

• Betio X-195 as GySgt. Domenick Daniel Amadio
• Betio X-196 as PFC Edward Robert Paulauski
• Betio X-197 as PFC Gene Woodrow Cox
• Betio X-202 as Sgt. Francis Pace Morgan
• Betio X-205 as PFC Raymond Paul Cywinski
• Betio X-213 as PFC Victor Maurice Daman
• Betio X-218 as PFC Andrew Edward Leon Despierto
• Betio X-219 as PFC Cecil Elliott McGhee
• Betio X-220 as Cpl. Lawrence Melville Gautreaux, Jr.
• Betio X-221 as PlSgt. Joe Gurley
• Betio X-222 as PFC Robert Milton Jenkins
• Betio X-226 as Pvt. Raymond Mostek

Open Cases

Most known cases from Cemetery 25 have been resolved. Three of the original burials are unaccounted for, while three remains have not yet been identified. (It should be noted that there is no guarantee of a one-to-one match between the unaccounted for men and the unidentified remains. Laboratory work is still pending.)

Reported Buried Here, But Not Accounted For

PFC Francis John Monick (Row B, Grave 39)
• PFC Samuel Brice Elliott (Row B, Grave 58)
• PFC Russell Lee Carney (Row B, Grave 62)

Remains Recovered Here, But Not Identified

• Betio Unknown X-211 (buried Lone Palm 29 March 1946)
• Betio Unknown X-217 (buried Lone Palm 2 April 1946)
• Betio Unknown X-227 (buried Lone Palm 3 April 1946)

Recent Identifications

In June 2011 non-profit group History Flight conducted an archaeological dig near the site of Cemetery 25 and recovered three sets of human remains. The bones and personal effects were handed over to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), and eventually resulted in the following identifications:

• PFC Manley Forrest Winkley on 1 June 2013. Winkley served with Baker Company, First Battalion, 2nd Marines, and died on 20 November 1943; he was listed as “disposition unknown.”
• PFC Nicholas Joseph Cancilla on 6 September 2016. Like Winkley, Cancilla served with B/1/2nd Marines and died on 20 November; original disposition “body not recovered.”
• PFC James Samuel Smith on 6 September 2016. Smith, a member of Charlie Company, 2nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion, was reported missing in action on 20 November 1943.

Because no original data links these remains to Cemetery 25, it is not known if they were ever buried within the cemetery boundaries or were isolated burials nearby.

History Flight also recovered numerous partial remains, which were also turned over to the appropriate government agency. In 2017, some of these parts were associated with Betio Unknown X-224, an individual recovered in 1946 and buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. On 10 January 2018, X-224 was identified as PFC Jack Harvey Krieger.

Winkley, Cancilla, Smith, and Krieger

The Tarawa Cemeteries