PHOTOS Burial of First Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., Knoxville, Tenn., Sept. 27, 2015
Archives for September 2015
UPDATE Remains of Lt. Alexander Bonnyman Jr. return to Knoxville
Public invited to attend memorial lying-in-honor and funeral Saturday and Sunday
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The remains of 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., arrived in Knoxville from Hawaii Sept. 25, bringing his family’s 72-year odyssey closer to conclusion.
Bonnyman was killed on Nov. 22, 1943 in the Battle of Tarawa. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. His remains, along with those of hundreds of other Marines, were lost after they were buried on Tarawa following the fighting.
His parents, Alexander Bonnyman, Sr. and Frances Berry Bonnyman, spent years trying to learn the location of their son’s remains and have them brought to Knoxville, where he grew up. Others, including his younger brother, George Gordon Bonnyman, and daughter Frances Bonnyman Evans, continued the quest for decades without success.
“I do want my son’s remains returned to Knoxville, Tennessee. … If any further or additional request or advice is needed to insure (sic) his remains being returned to me here, I shall appreciate your writing to me,” Alexander Bonnyman, Sr. wrote to Marine Commandant Lt. Gen. A.A. Vandegrift in 1944.
An American Graves Commission Service mission to Tarawa in 1946 was unable to locate more than half of the Marines and U.S. Navy personnel killed in the battle. In 1949, the Bonnyman family was informed that Lt. Bonnyman’s remains were “unrecoverable.”
In 2007, Mark Noah, founder of History Flight, Inc., began researching the long-lost graves of Tarawa. The Florida-based nonprofit group began sending teams of field researchers to the island of Betio, where the battle took place, in 2008., An archaeological team led by Kristen N. Baker located the site of Cemetery 27, where Bonnyman and 39 other Marines were recorded as having been buried, in March. When the team concluded its work in July, it had recovered 35 sets of remains from the island.
Alexander Bonnyman, Jr. was born May 2, 1910 in Atlanta. He was raised in Knoxville and attended Princeton University. He was living in Santa Fe, New Mexico and operating a copper mine near Santa Rosa when he joined the Marine Corps Reserve in July 1942.
Public events
Lt. Bonnyman’s casketed remains will lie in honor at the East Tennessee Veteran’s Memorial, World’s Fair Park, Knoxville, Tenn. from 2:30 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, with a short memorial service from 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Lt. Bonnyman will be buried in a family service with full military honors and a flyover at noon, Sunday, Sept. 27 at Berry Highland Memorial Cemetery, 5315 Kingston Pike in Knoxville.
Schedule of events for Sept. 25-27 Alexander Bonnyman memorial in Knoxville
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The family of 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnymarn, Jr., who was awarded the Medal of Honor after he was killed on Nov. 22, 1943 in the battle of Tarawa, has scheduled three three public events in conjunction with his burial in Knoxville, Tenn. Sept. 25-27.
Please see a detailed schedule at the end of this release.
The location of Lt. Bonnyman’s remains, along with those of hundreds of other Marines, was lost after they were buried on Tarawa following the fighting. An archaeological team from History Flight, Inc., a Florida-based nonprofit, recovered the remains of dozens of missing Marines between March and June, including those of Bonnyman.
Bonnyman, son of Alexander Bonnyman Sr., the late president of the Blue Diamond Coal Co., and Frances Berry Bonnyman, was born May 2, 1910 in Atlanta. He was raised in Knoxville and attended Princeton University. He was living in Santa Fe, New Mexico and operating a copper mine near Santa Rosa when he joined the Marine Corps Reserve in July 1942.
PUBLIC EVENTS
Procession from McGhee Tyson Airport to Berry Highland Memorial Cemetery
Date: Friday, Sept. 25
Time: Lt. Bonnyman’s casketed remains are scheduled to arrive at 11:20 a.m. at McGhee-Tyson Airport.
Location: McGhee-Tyson Airport to funeral home via Alcoa Highway and Kingston Pike
Details:
- Dignified transfer of remains with family and VIPs on tarmac
- Marine and funeral vehicles depart airport
- Volunteers from Patriot Riders and other veteran motorcycle groups will fall in outside airport.
- Knox County sheriff/Knoxville police will enforce rolling traffic blockade
Lt. Bonnyman’s casketed remains lying in honor and memorial
Date: Saturday, Sept. 26
Time: 2:30 to 6 p.m.
Location: East Tennessee Veteran’s Memorial, World’s Fair Park, Knoxville
Details:
- Memorial service and wreath laying: 2:30-3 p.m.
- 3 p.m.-6 p.m. – Public visitation of casketed remains; Medal of Honor, citation, photos on display
Funeral service and burial with full military honors
Date: Sunday, Sept. 27
Time: noon to 1 or 1:30 p.m. (estimated)
Location: Berry Highland Memorial Cemetery, 5315 Kingston Pike, Knoxville (map)
Details:
- Noon – remains transferred from chapel to horse-drawn caisson
- Noon-12:30 (estimated) – Marines, family, and caisson proceed to gravesite
- 12:30 (estimated) – Flyover of military aircraft
- 1-1:30 p.m. (estimated) – Funeral service, including ecumenical religious service and full military honors.
Parking
- Public parking and shuttle service at funeral home and adjacent businesses
- Shuttles stop running at 11:45
- No vehicle traffic allowed in cemetery except for family and VIPs