Marine Corps Reserves SGT John Brackeen, killed in World War II, remains unaccounted-for.
Born May 9, 1915, Pat was blessed one of ten children to the union of Nathaniel Terry and Mary Ophelia (nee Coleman) Brackeen.
Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Pat enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves.
Sergeant Brackeen was with his brothers in Bravo Company, 1st Battalion of the 8th Marines (B-1/8) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 20, 1943 (D-Day for the “Battle of Tarawa”), when young Pat - just 28 years old - perished.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son or husband off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Pat’s mother accepted the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation. Also left to mourn his passing were Pat's brothers; Kingston, Benford, McConnell, D. C. and Gail; and sisters; Mrs Hallie Orbison, Mrs Alta Kemper, Mrs Lillian Beaty and R. B. Rotenberry. Four of his brothers also serving in the Armed Forces. Poor Ophelia bore the banner of 4 Blue Stars, the 5th now turned to Gold.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio, but SGT Brackeen’s remains were not recovered. On February 8, 1949, a military review board declared Pat “non-recoverable”.
On November 22, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of SGT Brackeen and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Pat’s family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered his niece the opportunity to provide a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for Pat's identification.
Marine Corps Reserves Sergeant John Terry Brackeen is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed within Court 2 of the "Courts of the Missing".
SOURCE
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Born May 9, 1915, Pat was blessed one of ten children to the union of Nathaniel Terry and Mary Ophelia (nee Coleman) Brackeen.
Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Pat enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves.
Sergeant Brackeen was with his brothers in Bravo Company, 1st Battalion of the 8th Marines (B-1/8) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 20, 1943 (D-Day for the “Battle of Tarawa”), when young Pat - just 28 years old - perished.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son or husband off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Pat’s mother accepted the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation. Also left to mourn his passing were Pat's brothers; Kingston, Benford, McConnell, D. C. and Gail; and sisters; Mrs Hallie Orbison, Mrs Alta Kemper, Mrs Lillian Beaty and R. B. Rotenberry. Four of his brothers also serving in the Armed Forces. Poor Ophelia bore the banner of 4 Blue Stars, the 5th now turned to Gold.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio, but SGT Brackeen’s remains were not recovered. On February 8, 1949, a military review board declared Pat “non-recoverable”.
On November 22, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of SGT Brackeen and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Pat’s family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered his niece the opportunity to provide a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for Pat's identification.
Marine Corps Reserves Sergeant John Terry Brackeen is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed within Court 2 of the "Courts of the Missing".
SOURCE
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Marine Corps Reserves SGT John Brackeen, killed in World War II, remains unaccounted-for.
Born May 9, 1915, Pat was blessed one of ten children to the union of Nathaniel Terry and Mary Ophelia (nee Coleman) Brackeen.
Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Pat enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves.
Sergeant Brackeen was with his brothers in Bravo Company, 1st Battalion of the 8th Marines (B-1/8) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 20, 1943 (D-Day for the “Battle of Tarawa”), when young Pat - just 28 years old - perished.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son or husband off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Pat’s mother accepted the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation. Also left to mourn his passing were Pat's brothers; Kingston, Benford, McConnell, D. C. and Gail; and sisters; Mrs Hallie Orbison, Mrs Alta Kemper, Mrs Lillian Beaty and R. B. Rotenberry. Four of his brothers also serving in the Armed Forces. Poor Ophelia bore the banner of 4 Blue Stars, the 5th now turned to Gold.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio, but SGT Brackeen’s remains were not recovered. On February 8, 1949, a military review board declared Pat “non-recoverable”.
On November 22, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of SGT Brackeen and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Pat’s family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered his niece the opportunity to provide a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for Pat's identification.
Marine Corps Reserves Sergeant John Terry Brackeen is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed within Court 2 of the "Courts of the Missing".
SOURCE
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Born May 9, 1915, Pat was blessed one of ten children to the union of Nathaniel Terry and Mary Ophelia (nee Coleman) Brackeen.
Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Pat enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves.
Sergeant Brackeen was with his brothers in Bravo Company, 1st Battalion of the 8th Marines (B-1/8) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 20, 1943 (D-Day for the “Battle of Tarawa”), when young Pat - just 28 years old - perished.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son or husband off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Pat’s mother accepted the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation. Also left to mourn his passing were Pat's brothers; Kingston, Benford, McConnell, D. C. and Gail; and sisters; Mrs Hallie Orbison, Mrs Alta Kemper, Mrs Lillian Beaty and R. B. Rotenberry. Four of his brothers also serving in the Armed Forces. Poor Ophelia bore the banner of 4 Blue Stars, the 5th now turned to Gold.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio, but SGT Brackeen’s remains were not recovered. On February 8, 1949, a military review board declared Pat “non-recoverable”.
On November 22, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of SGT Brackeen and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Pat’s family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered his niece the opportunity to provide a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for Pat's identification.
Marine Corps Reserves Sergeant John Terry Brackeen is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed within Court 2 of the "Courts of the Missing".
SOURCE
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Inscription
BRACKEEN J. T.
SERGEANT • USMC • CALIFORNIA
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
