On November 30, 2021, Marine Corps CPL Andrew Pellerito, 22, killed in World War II, was finally laid to rest - in Amerian soil - with full military honors.
Born June 1, 1921, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Andrew was one of eleven children blessed to the union of Sicilian immigrants, Salvatore and Rosolia "Rosalie" (nee Madonia) Pellerito.
He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on January 15, 1942 in Detroit.
Corporal Pellerito was with his brothers in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Marines (K-3/2) 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 Andrew - just 22 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in the Main Marine Cemetery, Cemetery #33, Grave #7, Row #2, Plot #15, on Betio Island - a temporary location chosen by his fellow Marines, the survivors of the battle, until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
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, Andrew's father accepted his awards and decorations, including:
- Purple Heart
- Combat Action Ribbon
- World War II Victory Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal
- Marine Corp Expeditionary Medal, and
- Gold Star Lapel Button.
Also left to mourn his passing were Andrew's siblings; five brothers, Philip, John, Vincent, Salvatore and Tony; and five sisters; Ann, Rose, Josephine, Mary and Gloria.
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 CPL Pellerito's remains were not recovered. On February 8, 1949, a military review board declared Andrew "non-recoverable".
His family had a memorial marker placed at Section MA, Site 289 in Fort Custer National Cemetery, in Augusta, Michigan, in hopes that one day Andrew would be found and returned home.
On July 26, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of CPL Pellerito and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Andrew's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered his niece the opportunity to coordinate a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for his identification.
At the end of 2016, Department of Veterans Affairs disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-118 from the Punchbowl as part of an effort to identify the Tarawa Unknowns buried there. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's scientific analysis determined that elements of a 2009 History Flight turnover were associated with X-118.
On August 19, 2021, the DPAA announced that CPL Pellerito had been accounted for. To identify his remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Andrew was returned to his family and, on November 30, 2021, laid to rest with full military honors. His baby brother Tony will finally see CPL Pellerito home.
Marine Corps Corporal Andrew Pellerito is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Althought he has now been recovered and identified, CPL Pellerito's name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette will be placed next to it signifying that Andrew is finally home (56118829, a cenotaph).
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Military Information: CPL, US MARINE CORPS
Born June 1, 1921, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Andrew was one of eleven children blessed to the union of Sicilian immigrants, Salvatore and Rosolia "Rosalie" (nee Madonia) Pellerito.
He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on January 15, 1942 in Detroit.
Corporal Pellerito was with his brothers in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Marines (K-3/2) 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 Andrew - just 22 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in the Main Marine Cemetery, Cemetery #33, Grave #7, Row #2, Plot #15, on Betio Island - a temporary location chosen by his fellow Marines, the survivors of the battle, until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
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, Andrew's father accepted his awards and decorations, including:
- Purple Heart
- Combat Action Ribbon
- World War II Victory Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal
- Marine Corp Expeditionary Medal, and
- Gold Star Lapel Button.
Also left to mourn his passing were Andrew's siblings; five brothers, Philip, John, Vincent, Salvatore and Tony; and five sisters; Ann, Rose, Josephine, Mary and Gloria.
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 CPL Pellerito's remains were not recovered. On February 8, 1949, a military review board declared Andrew "non-recoverable".
His family had a memorial marker placed at Section MA, Site 289 in Fort Custer National Cemetery, in Augusta, Michigan, in hopes that one day Andrew would be found and returned home.
On July 26, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of CPL Pellerito and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Andrew's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered his niece the opportunity to coordinate a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for his identification.
At the end of 2016, Department of Veterans Affairs disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-118 from the Punchbowl as part of an effort to identify the Tarawa Unknowns buried there. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's scientific analysis determined that elements of a 2009 History Flight turnover were associated with X-118.
On August 19, 2021, the DPAA announced that CPL Pellerito had been accounted for. To identify his remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Andrew was returned to his family and, on November 30, 2021, laid to rest with full military honors. His baby brother Tony will finally see CPL Pellerito home.
Marine Corps Corporal Andrew Pellerito is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Althought he has now been recovered and identified, CPL Pellerito's name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette will be placed next to it signifying that Andrew is finally home (56118829, a cenotaph).
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Military Information: CPL, US MARINE CORPS
On November 30, 2021, Marine Corps CPL Andrew Pellerito, 22, killed in World War II, was finally laid to rest - in Amerian soil - with full military honors.
Born June 1, 1921, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Andrew was one of eleven children blessed to the union of Sicilian immigrants, Salvatore and Rosolia "Rosalie" (nee Madonia) Pellerito.
He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on January 15, 1942 in Detroit.
Corporal Pellerito was with his brothers in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Marines (K-3/2) 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 Andrew - just 22 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in the Main Marine Cemetery, Cemetery #33, Grave #7, Row #2, Plot #15, on Betio Island - a temporary location chosen by his fellow Marines, the survivors of the battle, until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
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, Andrew's father accepted his awards and decorations, including:
- Purple Heart
- Combat Action Ribbon
- World War II Victory Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal
- Marine Corp Expeditionary Medal, and
- Gold Star Lapel Button.
Also left to mourn his passing were Andrew's siblings; five brothers, Philip, John, Vincent, Salvatore and Tony; and five sisters; Ann, Rose, Josephine, Mary and Gloria.
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 CPL Pellerito's remains were not recovered. On February 8, 1949, a military review board declared Andrew "non-recoverable".
His family had a memorial marker placed at Section MA, Site 289 in Fort Custer National Cemetery, in Augusta, Michigan, in hopes that one day Andrew would be found and returned home.
On July 26, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of CPL Pellerito and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Andrew's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered his niece the opportunity to coordinate a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for his identification.
At the end of 2016, Department of Veterans Affairs disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-118 from the Punchbowl as part of an effort to identify the Tarawa Unknowns buried there. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's scientific analysis determined that elements of a 2009 History Flight turnover were associated with X-118.
On August 19, 2021, the DPAA announced that CPL Pellerito had been accounted for. To identify his remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Andrew was returned to his family and, on November 30, 2021, laid to rest with full military honors. His baby brother Tony will finally see CPL Pellerito home.
Marine Corps Corporal Andrew Pellerito is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Althought he has now been recovered and identified, CPL Pellerito's name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette will be placed next to it signifying that Andrew is finally home (56118829, a cenotaph).
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Military Information: CPL, US MARINE CORPS
Born June 1, 1921, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Andrew was one of eleven children blessed to the union of Sicilian immigrants, Salvatore and Rosolia "Rosalie" (nee Madonia) Pellerito.
He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on January 15, 1942 in Detroit.
Corporal Pellerito was with his brothers in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Marines (K-3/2) 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 Andrew - just 22 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in the Main Marine Cemetery, Cemetery #33, Grave #7, Row #2, Plot #15, on Betio Island - a temporary location chosen by his fellow Marines, the survivors of the battle, until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
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, Andrew's father accepted his awards and decorations, including:
- Purple Heart
- Combat Action Ribbon
- World War II Victory Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal
- Marine Corp Expeditionary Medal, and
- Gold Star Lapel Button.
Also left to mourn his passing were Andrew's siblings; five brothers, Philip, John, Vincent, Salvatore and Tony; and five sisters; Ann, Rose, Josephine, Mary and Gloria.
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 CPL Pellerito's remains were not recovered. On February 8, 1949, a military review board declared Andrew "non-recoverable".
His family had a memorial marker placed at Section MA, Site 289 in Fort Custer National Cemetery, in Augusta, Michigan, in hopes that one day Andrew would be found and returned home.
On July 26, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of CPL Pellerito and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Andrew's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered his niece the opportunity to coordinate a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for his identification.
At the end of 2016, Department of Veterans Affairs disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-118 from the Punchbowl as part of an effort to identify the Tarawa Unknowns buried there. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's scientific analysis determined that elements of a 2009 History Flight turnover were associated with X-118.
On August 19, 2021, the DPAA announced that CPL Pellerito had been accounted for. To identify his remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Andrew was returned to his family and, on November 30, 2021, laid to rest with full military honors. His baby brother Tony will finally see CPL Pellerito home.
Marine Corps Corporal Andrew Pellerito is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Althought he has now been recovered and identified, CPL Pellerito's name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette will be placed next to it signifying that Andrew is finally home (56118829, a cenotaph).
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Military Information: CPL, US MARINE CORPS
Inscription
ANDREW PELLERITO
CPL US MARINE CORPS
WORLD WAR II
JUN 1 1921 ... NOV 20 1943
PURPLE HEART KIA
REST IN PEACE
Family Members
Siblings
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Philip Joseph Pell
1906–2001
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Anna L. Pellerito Lucchese
1908–2000
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Rose Pellerito Lomonaco
1910–1979
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Josephine Pellerito Impellizzeri
1912–2002
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John Baptist Pellerito
1914–2007
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Mary Katherine Pellerito Mitchell
1917–2000
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Gloria G Pellerito Poll
1919–1998
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Vincent Gasper "James" Pellerito
1924–1983
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Salvatore Frank "Sam" Pellerito
1926–1994
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