Marine Corps Reserve PFC Raymond Arthur Pickering, 18, killed in World War II, remains unaccounted-for.
Born September 30, 1925, in St Louis, Missouri, Raymond Arthur Pickering was the older of two sons blessed to the union of Charles Arthur and Emma Christian (nee Bentlage) Pickering.
On December 9, 1942, the 72", 150 lbs, blue-eyed blonde walked into a hometown Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted in the Reserves.
Private First Class Pickering was with his brothers in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion of the 6th Marines (A-1/6) 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 22, 1943 (D+2 for the “Battle of Tarawa”), when young Raymond - just 18 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in Cemetery #33, Main Marine Cemetery, 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, Raymond'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, but PFC Pickering’s remains were not recovered. On October 10, 1949, a military review board declared Raymond “non-recoverable”.
On February 3, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PFC Pickering and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Raymond’s family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered the late Richard Pickering the opportunity to provide a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for his big brother's identification.
Marine Corps Reserve Private First Class Raymond Arthur Pickering is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing".
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Born September 30, 1925, in St Louis, Missouri, Raymond Arthur Pickering was the older of two sons blessed to the union of Charles Arthur and Emma Christian (nee Bentlage) Pickering.
On December 9, 1942, the 72", 150 lbs, blue-eyed blonde walked into a hometown Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted in the Reserves.
Private First Class Pickering was with his brothers in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion of the 6th Marines (A-1/6) 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 22, 1943 (D+2 for the “Battle of Tarawa”), when young Raymond - just 18 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in Cemetery #33, Main Marine Cemetery, 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, Raymond'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, but PFC Pickering’s remains were not recovered. On October 10, 1949, a military review board declared Raymond “non-recoverable”.
On February 3, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PFC Pickering and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Raymond’s family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered the late Richard Pickering the opportunity to provide a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for his big brother's identification.
Marine Corps Reserve Private First Class Raymond Arthur Pickering is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing".
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Marine Corps Reserve PFC Raymond Arthur Pickering, 18, killed in World War II, remains unaccounted-for.
Born September 30, 1925, in St Louis, Missouri, Raymond Arthur Pickering was the older of two sons blessed to the union of Charles Arthur and Emma Christian (nee Bentlage) Pickering.
On December 9, 1942, the 72", 150 lbs, blue-eyed blonde walked into a hometown Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted in the Reserves.
Private First Class Pickering was with his brothers in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion of the 6th Marines (A-1/6) 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 22, 1943 (D+2 for the “Battle of Tarawa”), when young Raymond - just 18 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in Cemetery #33, Main Marine Cemetery, 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, Raymond'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, but PFC Pickering’s remains were not recovered. On October 10, 1949, a military review board declared Raymond “non-recoverable”.
On February 3, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PFC Pickering and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Raymond’s family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered the late Richard Pickering the opportunity to provide a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for his big brother's identification.
Marine Corps Reserve Private First Class Raymond Arthur Pickering is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing".
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Born September 30, 1925, in St Louis, Missouri, Raymond Arthur Pickering was the older of two sons blessed to the union of Charles Arthur and Emma Christian (nee Bentlage) Pickering.
On December 9, 1942, the 72", 150 lbs, blue-eyed blonde walked into a hometown Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted in the Reserves.
Private First Class Pickering was with his brothers in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion of the 6th Marines (A-1/6) 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 22, 1943 (D+2 for the “Battle of Tarawa”), when young Raymond - just 18 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in Cemetery #33, Main Marine Cemetery, 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, Raymond'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, but PFC Pickering’s remains were not recovered. On October 10, 1949, a military review board declared Raymond “non-recoverable”.
On February 3, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PFC Pickering and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Raymond’s family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered the late Richard Pickering the opportunity to provide a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for his big brother's identification.
Marine Corps Reserve Private First Class Raymond Arthur Pickering is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing".
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Inscription
PICKERING RAYMOND A
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS • USMC • MISSOURI
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