Thomas Donnett Cain, Jr.
Corporal Thomas D. Cain, Jr. served with Headquarters & Service Company, Second Tank Battalion.
He was killed in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 349467
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
September 17, 1919
at Denver, CO
Parents
Thomas Donnett Cain, Sr.
Helen R. Cain
Education
High School graduate
Occupation & Employer
United Airlines
at Denver Municipal Airport
Service Life
Entered Service
January 7, 1942
at Denver, CO
Home Of Record
2637 Ash Street
Denver, CO
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Helen R. Cain
Military Specialty
Recon Guide
Primary Unit
2nd Tank Battalion
H&S Company
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal (with 1st Tank Battalion)
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Silver Star
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
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Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Corporal Thomas Cain served as a recon guide with Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Tank Battalion. During the amphibious landings on Betio, his role was to lead a platoon of tanks ashore using floats to mark a clear path around obstacles like shell holes or mines. It was a dangerous job in theory, and all but suicidal under fire.
When the floats were swept away by enemy fire and strong currents, Corporal Cain joined an ever-shrinking group of recon guides who stood still in the water, directing the tanks by hand at the complete mercy of Japanese guns. Once all tanks were past, Cain was left to reach safety by any means possible. The chaos continued on the beach, where heavy losses and determined defenses temporarily stymied the armor advance.
Cain and a handful of other men, including Sergeant James R. Atkins, volunteered to lead the tanks through friendly lines and into enemy territory. Once there, he scouted targets for the M4 gunners “in the face of intense hostile fire.” Without a radio, the corporal had to be between tank and target to communicate – clearly in sight of American and Japanese guns. Almost inevitably, Cain was hit and killed while performing this dangerous task. He was awarded a posthumous Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action.
Burial Information or Disposition
Corporal Cain’s body may have been recovered after the battle and brought to a Marine cemetery for burial. A notation in his Marine Corps Casualty Card indicates burial in “Cemetery B, 2nd Marines #2, Row 1, [Grave] 6.” [Grave #5 was occupied by Sergeant Atkins of the 2nd Tanks, who earned his own Silver Star Medal the same way as Cain.] This information, corroborated by Marine Corps Graves Registration, places Cain’s remains in the “West Division Cemetery” located on western Betio. The 2nd Tanks’ muster roll, on the other hand, gives only a memorial location (Cemetery 33, Grave 2, Row 1, Plot 5), while his Individual Deceased Personnel File says only “disposition of remains unknown.”
The West Division Cemetery was later beautified and reconstructed into “Cemetery 11” – a large cross-shaped memorial plot that bore little resemblance to the original Marine burials. The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company exhumed remains from this location in 1946, but faced extreme difficulty – first in removing the bodies, then in identifying individuals. Corporal Cain was not among them.
Today, there are two recovered sets of remains from “Cemetery 11” – Betio X-239 and X-244 – awaiting identification. Corporal Cain may one day be associated with one of these bodies – or, perhaps he was never buried in the area at all.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Helen R. Cain.
Location Of Loss
Corporal Cain was killed at an unspecified location on Betio.
