BETIO ISLAND, TARAWA ATOLL, Republic of Kiribati — An archaeological team from Florida-based History Flight, Inc. has solved a 70-year-old mystery with the discovery in March of a long-lost burial trench and the recovery of at least three-dozen U.S. Marines killed in the battle of Tarawa, Nov. 20-23, 1943.
“History Flight is extremely pleased to announce the discovery and recovery of historic Cemetery 27 on Betio Island as part of its 10-year, multi-million-dollar effort to recover hundreds of Marines lost to history, their nation and their families in 1943,” says founder and director Mark Noah. “Our trans-disciplinary team of forensic anthropologists, geophysicists, historians, surveyors, anthropologists, forensic odontologists, unexploded ordinance specialists, medics and cadaver dog handlers excelled in difficult conditions to produce spectacular results.”
History Flight works in cooperation with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the federal agency tasked with recovering the remains of missing U.S. service personnel.
“We are very grateful for the efforts of Mark Noah and History Flight for the recovery of these Marines lost during the Battle of Tarawa. We are working with History Flight and the Marine Corps to repatriate these remains to the United States, after which DPAA’s laboratory will expeditiously confirm or complete the identities of the recovered Marines,” says Lt. Gen. Michael S. Linnington, director of DPAA. “This is a tremendous example of how private-public partnerships can contribute to our accounting efforts both now and in the future.”
The remains of at least 40 men killed in fighting on the north side of tiny Betio were recorded as having been buried at a site near the terminus of a Japanese-built pier. An American Graves Registration Service team returned to the island in June 1946 and exhumed some 500 Marines, but was unable to locate Cemetery 27. The men buried there were among hundreds officially declared “unrecoverable” by the Quartermaster General’s Office in 1949.
Among the Marines recovered and now positively identified are those of 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman Jr., one of four recipients of the Medal of Honor for actions at Tarawa, and the only one whose remains had been unaccounted for.
“The location of Cemetery 27 has been one of Tarawa’s most challenging historical puzzles. History Flight’s discovery and recovery of the site is a testament to the tenacity and professionalism with which it has searched for all the missing Tarawa Marines,” says Clay Bonnyman Evans of Niwot, Colorado, who was working with the team when his grandfather was recovered May 29. “Our family, including Lt. Bonnyman’s two surviving daughters — my mother and aunt — is deeply grateful to History Flight for accomplishing what nobody else could for more than seven decades.”
Bonnyman’s daughters have decided to have his remains interred in the family plot in Knoxville, Tennessee, next to his parents, two sisters and brother. The family is currently planning a public funeral service for sometime in the fall.
Few Americans were aware U.S. Marines were still buried on Betio between 1950 and the dawn of the 21st century. Noah learned of the “lost graves of Tarawa” while searching for a downed plane in the Betio lagoon in 2006. History Flight spent thousands of hours searching archives for clues before sending teams to the island for six weeks in 2008 to locate former cemetery sites and scan them with ground penetrating radar.
To date, History Flight has recovered a minimum of 120 individuals once declared “unrecoverable” from Betio’s sandy tombs. Among those recovered at Cemetery 27 by the recovery team are six sets of unknown and possibly unrecorded remains.
“It has been an honor and privilege to lead our recovery team and find these long missing U.S. servicemen,” says archaeologist Kristen N. Baker, History Flight Recovery Team leader. “These brave men made the ultimate sacrifice over 70 years ago, and they deserve the best possible repatriation that we can give them. I hope they that they will finally receive the heroes departure and welcome home that they truly deserve.”
The team will continue to work the Cemetery 27 site through the end of June in advance of a forensic review of recovered remains in July, including comparison with dental records and DNA of descendants of missing Tarawa Marines.
Family members of individuals still unaccounted for from the battle of Tarawa are encouraged to contact History Flight at www.historyflight.com or 1-888-743-3311.
“Although we have dental matches to known missing Tarawa Marines for more than half of the recovered individuals, we are seeking DNA reference samples from families of the Tarawa missing,” says Ed Huffine, board secretary for History Flight. “We plan to have all of these recovered heroes identified by the end of the summer.”
Mark Noah and Historic Flight deserve the kudos on this one. They actually found the remains of many Americans over 5 years ago and JPAC just refused to accept the remains and left them on Tarawa. Now that JPAC is gone and some of the pretenders are also gone DPAA may succeed where JPAC failed.
The recent history of JPAC shows a failed system that did not want to accept Historic Flight’s help on Tarawa. JPAC searched Tarawa for years but refused the help from anyone and refused to accept the remains already found by others, and came up empty.
Semper Fi Marine heroes I will play taps for all of you.
CPL Wayne L Campbell USMC
Member of Semper Fi # 1 Memorial Honor
Detail Riverside California national cemetery. Vietnam Veteran
Hi Clay,
What fantastic persistence you possess. I have recently being retracing my own grandfather’s movements during WWI in Turkey, Malta and Egypt to fill in the missing pieces for my family.
My wife and I met on Tarawa and lived there for several years. I was always very mindful of the role Tarawa played during the war and the ferocious terror the battle must have been. We visited many of the sites still present on the atoll and felt the whole place was really a living memorial to the heroism of those men. The young Marines that would come to celebrate the anniversary of the battle were sometimes accompanied by veterans of Tarawa and it was a sombre honor to walk with these men as they recounted their own tales of survival and loss.
I am sorry that the DoD “attempts” at finding and recovering lost vets has been handled as poorly as the initial planning for Tarawa. I have heard nothing but great things about History Flight. I hope you efforts brings peace.
This is an amazing story. I re enlisted in the Marines after 9/11 at the age of 30. I was married with 2 kids and I had been out of the Marine Corps for 6 years. Lt Bonnyman’s story is truly one of dedication and courage. We have a family trip to Gatlinburg later this month so we’re going to go to Knoxville and see his memorial marker. Congrats to the Bonnyman family and Semper Fi!
Rest in peace Marine Semper Fi from this Vietnam Veteran 63-67
Thank you for your service!
We of the Lt. Alexander Bonnyman Det. 924 of Knoxville Tn. welcomes the news of our brother and name sake home. Well done Marine.
Clay – What an incredible achievement! I was so pleased when I heard that your grandfather’s remains had been found after 72 years and that the family had decided to bury him in the family plot in Knoxville. As I’m sure you know, the members of the Lt. Alexander Bonnyman Detachment #924 of the Marine Corps League and the members of the Lt. Alexander Bonnyman Unit of the Young Marines are ready to help in any way your family needs.
Thank you, Virgil. That means a lot, coming from you. We’ll start figuring out details in August (I’m traveling), but we have set Sept. 26 in Knoxville as the date for his funeral Mass at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (where he went as a boy) and burial in the family plot at Highland Memorial Cemetery.
God bless you for your tenacity and ability to find your grandfather and so many more who were lost. I know he would be extremely proud of you and the work that all of the team has done to recover so many lost soldiers. I know so may other families must also be relieved and happy to have their family members home again. May he always look out for you and keep you safe, Blessings to all of you.
Great story thanks for sharing. My grand uncle was killed on Guadalcanal and we have a photo of him in our home. Although we did not know him his memory and sacrifice will live on in our family. Thanks to all those lost and living.
Well Done.
I have no one missing but I just had to say you all are doing a beautiful and wonderful job for those who have lost loved ones. Please keep up the good work; for God will bless you all. Also I cant believe this hasn’t hit the national news; like the Today show. I think the whole country needs to hear this.
I visited the bunker on Tarawa where Alexander Bonnyman was killed. He has been a hero to me ever since. I am happy that your family has you back, Sir!
Welcome home brother. You are on American soil now. i salute you Sir.
I remember seeing a program on this with – JPAC I think? They had gone searching and came up nothing. Their biggest fear was that this grave site would be under some houses now (which knowing a bit of the history of Tarawa hard to imagine some suburban houses there now).
Would have been interesting in this article to learn exactly how they came upon this site – but congratulations on finding it.
Had a neighbor with a colorful history – a South Pacific Marine veteran. I asked him how he survived Tarawa from the landing craft and he said that he held his breath and walked along the bottom – pushing himself up to get air.
100s were machine gunned just trying to get ashore.
Kudos to the family of LT1 Alexander Bonneyman, Jr…Atlanta born, as I am..for their tenacity in maintaining the search for their soldier…Theirs is a bittersweet homecoming. According to Wikipedia, there are approximately 74,000 American soldiers still missing from WW2….many that may never be found….and are known only to God. But….does this number include the soldiers/sailors/Marines that were on secret missions…known only to the War Department files…files that are still classified and unreachable, even through OPRA? My father knows that a good number of Navy pilots were lost at sea near Cape May, NJ while training with the Curtiss-Wright SB2C Helldiver planes…their bodies were never recovered. Many others were shot down by the Russians during WW2…and the blame placed on the Japs…that information has never been explained.
My great uncle was captured on Tarawa and executed on Betio. He was nz army volunteer, attached to a nz post radio operator. There was one witness to his execution, an islander, who fainted at the site of prisoners being decapitated by the Japanese.
Hi, Matt. Thank you for writing. I’d love to chat with you sometime (by Skype or whatever means) about your great uncle, for my book. I’m mostly out of pocket for July, but if there is a chance you’d be willing to talk, please send me an email at claybonnyman(at)gmail.
My great uncle was captured on Tarawa and executed on Betio. He was nz army volunteer, attached to a nz post radio operator. There was one witness to his execution, an islander, who fainted at the site of prisoners being decapitated by the Japanese…
Welcome home brother, rest in peace fair winds and following seas.
Welcome home LT , I served in 3rd Bn 2nd Marines , the Betio Battalion, we stood on your shoulders,you gave our battalion it’s name, Semper Fi.
Welcome home Sir thank you for your service!
Thank you for fighting and dying for our Freedom….God bless you LT. and welcome home…VietNam Veteran 1970-1973
Welcome home brother. Semper Fidelis.
Semper Fidelis, and rest in peace with your family, Lieutenant.
George Derryberry, Chattanooga Tennessee, formerly 087762 USMC
Semper Fi brothers, welcome home.
It says so much about History Flight and the other NGO’s that have recovered these Marines but it poses the question. Where is JPAC and the Marine Corps ? Why were they allowed to lay in mass graves amidst garbage for over seven decades ? Marine Corps traditions are that nobody gets left behind. Live up to it. Get these people returned to their families or the Punchbowl for proper burials now. The government of the United States of America transported them to the Gilberts to fight and die. At least have the decency to return them to their family and stop the pain.
JPAC no longer exists. It is now called DPAA. They are doing things differently now, the outcome has yet to be seen. Considering the sheer numbers lost in the combined wars, there is only so much time, money and people power. There are also legal and international relations to consider, many of these regions have not always welcomed the US. Diplomacy takes time. Searches take time. Positive identifications are not like the movies or TV shows they take time, DNA cannot always be recovered even when you have remains due to the environment they have been in. If you look into the long history of the military and it’s accounting system you might find more answers to the delay, it could occur anywhere on that 70-year timeline leading us up to today. From funding to wars to who was elected that year or maybe the advances in science did not exist yet. There is no one reason or solution, but to carry on and keep searching and bring them home.
Thanks, Melissa. I agree that DPAA has a different approach to all of this. I spoke last week with Lt. Gen. Michael S. Linnington, the new director, and our family is very pleased with the spirit of cooperation that is going to get more MIAs home in the future.
To readers: What were once JPAC and DPMO have been merged into a new agency, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, and they have been really great with my family when it comes to getting my grandfather’s remains home.
Just fyi, Lt. Bonnyman has been positively identified via an odontologist’s examination, and many of the other Marines recovered by History Flight from Cemetery 27 have also been examined. I have spent a couple of weeks contacting family members who may be willing to provide DNA samples for comparison. In short, History Flight anticipates that it will have positive identifications on all or most of the remains recovered from Cemetery 27 by the end of August.
Welcome home Lt. Bonnyman. A grateful nation awaits your long postponed homecoming. I am also the family member of an MIA (shot down near Borneo June 17th, 1945 and never recovered) God Bless your family.