WWII Marines Accounted For

Patriot Guard ^

[robowombat]

WWII Marines Accounted For

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that two U.S. Marines missing in action from World War II, have been accounted for and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Henry S. White, 23, of Kansas City, Mo., and Staff Sgt. Thomas L. Meek, 19, of Lisbon, La., will be buried as a group in a single casketrepresenting the two servicemen, on Oct. 18, at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

On July 21, 1943, White and Meek were crew members of an SBD-4 Dauntless dive-bomber that departed Turtle Bay Airfield on Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides, on a night training mission and failed to return. During the training mission, the aircraft was reported as crashed on a coral cliff on nearby Mavea Island. In September 1947, a U.S. Army Graves Registration Service team investigated the crash on Mavea Island, but recovered no remains. In 2012, a JPAC team excavated the crash site on Mavea Island, Republic of Vanuatu, and recovered the remains of White and Meek and non-biological evidence amid the aircraft wreckage, which included U.S. and Australian coins dating to 1942 and earlier, U.S. military captain's bars, and a military identification tag that correlates to Meek by name and service number. What was found at the crash site, along with the remains, correlate circumstantially to White and Meek, however, no individual identifications were possible.

There are more than 400,000 American service members that were killed during WWII, and the remains of more than 73,000 were never recovered or identified.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

[robowombat]

I have some more to report on this. I have attempted to find out more about SSgt Meek as i am a Louisianian. One bit of information was that he was born in Arcadia, La., which is in Bienville Parish, the next parish west to Claiborn where the village of Lisbon is located. This is in far north part of the state in an area of rolling hills and steep ravines near the west end of the Monroe oil and gas field. If any Freepers from Ka-Mo know something about Captain White, who was an experienced and daring aviator that information would be appreciated. These are two small bits of the drama and sacrifice that was the lot of the generation that rendesvoused with destiny.

[forgotten man]

There were more than 400,000 Americans killed in World War II.
That is a lot of gold stars. I bet that more than 100,000 Americans were killed in the last six months of the war, from the start of the Battle of the Bulge until Okinawa was secured.

[skeeter]

I’d bet you’re right. Just under 25,000 were killed in those last two campaigns you mentioned.

[Brad from Tennessee]

Our flag's unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job
The United States Marines.

—Marine Corps Hymn

[Shadowstrike]

Welcome home Brothers, welcome home.

[donmeaker]

When we think of WWII, spare a moment for our allies too.
1.3 million Chinese soldiers, between 17 and 22 million civilians.

14.5 Soviet Union military casualties, between 20 and 35 million civilians. Soviets lost over a million 2nd lieutenants as they destroyed 80% of the German Army.

Soviet peoples paid a heavy price for Stalin’s deal with Hitler.

[ken5050]

Good luck with your search. If you do succeed in finding more information, I trust you'll post it. With today's genealogical databases, it shouldn't be too hard to find out about his family history as well as an current living relations.

Our military does a superb job of recovering and identifying remains. However, the statistic that "the remains of more than 73,000 were never recovered or identified," is pretty misleading, in that it implies there exists the possibility of someday finding them. That's not the case. The overwhelming percentage of those where lost at sea, when either ships and/or planes went down, and recovery is not possible. We do know what happened to them. The more than 1,000 sailors and Marines who went down on the Arizona are actually included in that number, as the individual remains were never identified, or recovered, yet one could hardly call them "missing." I'd like to see a more realistic assessment.

[donmeaker]

It is my understanding that more Marines died in Vietnam than in WWII.

The Marines were very small, and their major influence was the doctrine of amphibious landings. Of 248 US amphibious landings in WWII, 48 were conducted by the Marines. 200 were conducted by the Army.

[robowombat]

It is my understanding that more Marines died in Vietnam than in WWII.

Not exactly

World War 2
Dead Wounded

19,733 68,207

Viet Nam

13,095 88,594

Source: http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq56-1.htm

Viet nam wounded casualty figure may reflect more complete record keeping during that conflict.

[98ZJ USMC]

When we think of WWII, spare a moment for our allies too. 1.3 million Chinese soldiers, between 17 and 22 million civilians. 14.5 Soviet Union military casualties, between 20 and 35 million civilians. Soviets lost over a million 2nd lieutenants as they destroyed 80% of the German Army. Soviet peoples paid a heavy price for Stalin’s deal with Hitler.

Yes, most any student of history is well aware of Chinese and Soviet estimates of casualties both military and civilian. Not applicable here.

[Doc91678]

Isn’t it odd that Progressives would criticize Bush about those killed in Iraq, when FDR used American lives for cannon fodder?

[ConorMacNessa]

"Viet nam wounded casualty figure may reflect more complete record keeping during that conflict."

Unlike in WWII, most Vietnam War casualties who made it back to the Field Hospital survived - I don't have the statistic at my fingertips, but it was high.

America demands Justice for the Fallen of Benghazi!

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)