On June 22, 2018, Marine Corps PFC John William MacDonald, 19, killed in World War II, was finally laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.
Born April 14, 1924, in Somerville, Massachusetts, John William MacDonald was the only child blessed to the union of William John and Dorothy Helen (nee Cowan) MacDonald.
On January 22, 1942, the 69-3/4", 125 lb, hazel-eyed brunette walked into a Boston-area Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted.
Private First Class MacDonald was with his brothers in Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion of the 8th Marines (F-2/8) 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 John - just 19 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried 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, John's parents 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.
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 Island, but PFC MacDonald’s remains were not recovered. On October 7, 1949, a military review board declared John "non-recoverable".
In June 2015, History Flight notified Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that they discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015 for analysis.
On September 1, 2016, DPAA officially accounted-for PFC MacDonald. To identify his remains, DPAA scientists used laboratory analysis, including anthropological analysis and dental and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched MacDonald’s military medical records; as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
In February 2018, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PFC MacDonald and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section. This (re)established lines of communication with John’s cousin, Sharon Kelley, regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts.
John was finally returned to his family and, on June 22, 2018, laid to rest at the Massachusetts National Cemetery with full military honors.
Marine Corps Private First Class John William MacDonald is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, PFC MacDonald name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette has been placed next to his name to verify that John has finally been found (99620006, a cenotaph).
SOURCE:
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA News Release No: 18-084 (June 15, 2018)
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from the memorial maintainer:
I am grateful to Chuck Williams & Hattie Johnson (USMC POW/MIA Section), History Flight and the DPAA for their efforts in bringing my Marine home. “It takes a village!”
Born April 14, 1924, in Somerville, Massachusetts, John William MacDonald was the only child blessed to the union of William John and Dorothy Helen (nee Cowan) MacDonald.
On January 22, 1942, the 69-3/4", 125 lb, hazel-eyed brunette walked into a Boston-area Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted.
Private First Class MacDonald was with his brothers in Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion of the 8th Marines (F-2/8) 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 John - just 19 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried 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, John's parents 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.
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 Island, but PFC MacDonald’s remains were not recovered. On October 7, 1949, a military review board declared John "non-recoverable".
In June 2015, History Flight notified Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that they discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015 for analysis.
On September 1, 2016, DPAA officially accounted-for PFC MacDonald. To identify his remains, DPAA scientists used laboratory analysis, including anthropological analysis and dental and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched MacDonald’s military medical records; as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
In February 2018, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PFC MacDonald and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section. This (re)established lines of communication with John’s cousin, Sharon Kelley, regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts.
John was finally returned to his family and, on June 22, 2018, laid to rest at the Massachusetts National Cemetery with full military honors.
Marine Corps Private First Class John William MacDonald is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, PFC MacDonald name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette has been placed next to his name to verify that John has finally been found (99620006, a cenotaph).
SOURCE:
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA News Release No: 18-084 (June 15, 2018)
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from the memorial maintainer:
I am grateful to Chuck Williams & Hattie Johnson (USMC POW/MIA Section), History Flight and the DPAA for their efforts in bringing my Marine home. “It takes a village!”
On June 22, 2018, Marine Corps PFC John William MacDonald, 19, killed in World War II, was finally laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.
Born April 14, 1924, in Somerville, Massachusetts, John William MacDonald was the only child blessed to the union of William John and Dorothy Helen (nee Cowan) MacDonald.
On January 22, 1942, the 69-3/4", 125 lb, hazel-eyed brunette walked into a Boston-area Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted.
Private First Class MacDonald was with his brothers in Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion of the 8th Marines (F-2/8) 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 John - just 19 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried 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, John's parents 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.
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 Island, but PFC MacDonald’s remains were not recovered. On October 7, 1949, a military review board declared John "non-recoverable".
In June 2015, History Flight notified Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that they discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015 for analysis.
On September 1, 2016, DPAA officially accounted-for PFC MacDonald. To identify his remains, DPAA scientists used laboratory analysis, including anthropological analysis and dental and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched MacDonald’s military medical records; as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
In February 2018, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PFC MacDonald and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section. This (re)established lines of communication with John’s cousin, Sharon Kelley, regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts.
John was finally returned to his family and, on June 22, 2018, laid to rest at the Massachusetts National Cemetery with full military honors.
Marine Corps Private First Class John William MacDonald is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, PFC MacDonald name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette has been placed next to his name to verify that John has finally been found (99620006, a cenotaph).
SOURCE:
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA News Release No: 18-084 (June 15, 2018)
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from the memorial maintainer:
I am grateful to Chuck Williams & Hattie Johnson (USMC POW/MIA Section), History Flight and the DPAA for their efforts in bringing my Marine home. “It takes a village!”
Born April 14, 1924, in Somerville, Massachusetts, John William MacDonald was the only child blessed to the union of William John and Dorothy Helen (nee Cowan) MacDonald.
On January 22, 1942, the 69-3/4", 125 lb, hazel-eyed brunette walked into a Boston-area Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted.
Private First Class MacDonald was with his brothers in Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion of the 8th Marines (F-2/8) 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 John - just 19 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried 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, John's parents 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.
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 Island, but PFC MacDonald’s remains were not recovered. On October 7, 1949, a military review board declared John "non-recoverable".
In June 2015, History Flight notified Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that they discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015 for analysis.
On September 1, 2016, DPAA officially accounted-for PFC MacDonald. To identify his remains, DPAA scientists used laboratory analysis, including anthropological analysis and dental and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched MacDonald’s military medical records; as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
In February 2018, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PFC MacDonald and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section. This (re)established lines of communication with John’s cousin, Sharon Kelley, regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts.
John was finally returned to his family and, on June 22, 2018, laid to rest at the Massachusetts National Cemetery with full military honors.
Marine Corps Private First Class John William MacDonald is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, PFC MacDonald name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette has been placed next to his name to verify that John has finally been found (99620006, a cenotaph).
SOURCE:
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA News Release No: 18-084 (June 15, 2018)
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from the memorial maintainer:
I am grateful to Chuck Williams & Hattie Johnson (USMC POW/MIA Section), History Flight and the DPAA for their efforts in bringing my Marine home. “It takes a village!”
Inscription
JOHN WILLIAM MAC DONALD JR
PFC US MARINE CORPS / WORLD WAR II
APR 14 1925 ... NOV 20 1943
PURPLE HEART KIA / SEMPER FI
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