From: "John Ferguson" <ajfergus@msn.com> Save Address - Block Sender
To: "Sugar Brown" <rope13tricks@bcom.net>, "Steve M. Klos" <tbkios@aol.com>, "Richard Gaines" <gunnyg@hotmail.com>, <raider@ixlmemphis.com>, <RADERMAC2B@aol.com>, "KAPLIN" <ohgng@aol.com>, "Jodon Harn" <jodonharn@aol.com>, "Jennifer Ren" <jren135@earthlink.net>, "James Gleason" <jgleaso1@tampabay.it.com>, <J4119m@aol.com>, "Jack W. Ferguson" <jackwf@prodigy.net> Save Address
CC: <gfuentes@nctimes.com> Save Address
Subject: For your information
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 08:32:38 -0700
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John, the following is self explanatory and you may wish to become involved in responce.
I suggest that Jerome Beau be contacted and see if his files contain any information that may be useful.
I will contact the sender to inform him of this action --Our web Page continues to be very useful in helping with the past history----------------JOHN FERGUSON 1/B
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Mr. Ferguson,
I am a military affairs reporter with a daily newspaper in northern
San
Diego County. Today, the Pentagon released the names of the Marine
Raiders MIA from Makin Atoll whose bodies were recovered by search teams
recently.
I've included at the bottom of this message the Defense Department's
release.
There's a Marine by the name of Pvt. Robert B. Maulding of
Vista, Calif.
I am hoping to find any information about him, where
he's from, his family, etc., for a story. I saw your web site and I
wonder if you
or someone else you know may have known him. I'd appreciate it very much
talking
with you if so.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Gidget Fuentes
Gidget Fuentes
Military Affairs Reporter
North County Times
1722 S. Coast Hwy.
Oceanside, CA 92054
Office tele: (760) 901-4072
Cell tele: (760) 402-6355
Pager: (760) 781-0294
Office fax: (760) 757-2072
E-mail: gfuentes@nctimes.com
gidgetf@earthlink.net
www.nctimes.com
N E W S R E L E A S E
=
= OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
= (PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
= WASHINGTON, D.C. 20301
=
= PLEASE NOTE DATE
====================================================
No. 714-00
(703)695-0192(media)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2000
(703)697-5737(public/industry)
WWII MARINE RAIDERS IDENTIFIED, RETURNING HOME
The remains of 19 World War II Marine Raiders killed in action on
Butaritari Island (Makin Atoll) and listed as missing in action since
August 1942 were recently identified, and will be returned to their
families for burial.
The remains are those of:
Capt. Gerald P. Holtom, Palo Alto, Calif.
Sgt. Clyde Thomason, Atlanta, Ga.
FM1C. Vernon L. Castle, Stillwater, Okla.
Cpl. I.B. Earles, Tulare, Calif.
Cpl. Daniel A. Gaston, Galveston, Tex.
Cpl. Harris J. Johnson, Little Rock, Iowa
Cpl. Kenneth K. Kunkle, Mountain Home, Ark.
Cpl. Edward Maciejewski, Chicago, Ill.
Cpl. Robert B. Pearson, Lafayette, Calif.
Cpl. Mason O. Yarbrough, Sikeston, Mo.
Pfc. William A. Gallagher, Wyandotte, Mich.
Pfc. Ashley W. Hicks, Waterford, Calif.
Pfc. Kenneth M. Montgomery, Eden, Wis.
Pfc. Norman W. Mortensen, Camp Douglas, Wis.
Pfc. John E. Vandenberg, Kenosha, Wis.
Pvt. Carlyle O. Larson, Glenwood, Minn.
Pvt. Robert B. Maulding, Vista, Calif.
Pvt. Franklin M. Nodland, Marshalltown, Iowa
Pvt. Charles A. Selby, Ontonagon, Mich.
The Marines were members of the Marine Corps' 2nd Raider Battalion,
killed during the August 17-18, 1942, raid on Japanese-held Butaritari
Island, during which an estimated 83 Japanese soldiers were killed.
Lt. Col. Evans F. Carlson commanded the Raiders during the operation,
and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's son, Capt. James Roosevelt, was
the operation's second-in-command. Ferried to the island by submarine
and landing on and departing Butaritari by rubber boats, the Marines
were unable to evacuate the bodies of their fallen comrades.
With the assistance of island inhabitants, including a man who assisted
in the burial of the Marines in 1942, a recovery team from the U.S. Army
Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI) uncovered a mass grave
and excavated the remains in November and December 1999. That operation
was preceded by an initial investigation in August 1998 and an
unsuccessful recovery effort in May 1999. The U.S. Marine Raider
Association provided invaluable assistance with firsthand information
and documentation about their combat on Butaritari.
In late 1999, the CILHI began an exhaustive forensic identification
process, including the use of mitochondrial DNA, to confirm the
identities of the Marines. Marine Corps officials, using historical
military records and more modern search techniques, located the next of
kin of each of the Marines.
Arrangements for the transportation and burial of the Marines are
underway, in consultation with the families. The first burial is
expected to be that of Cpl. Yarbrough in Sikeston, Mo. in December.
Among the remains recovered are those of Sgt. Clyde Thomason, the first
enlisted Marine awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II.
The identification of these Marines contributes to the ongoing effort by
the Department of Defense to locate and identify more than 88,000
American service members who remain missing in action from World War II,
the Cold War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
-END-
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