Welcome Home....
" I saw what was going on over there and it was wrong. It was my moral duty to go" - unknown WWII soldier.
By ANANDA SHOREY, Associated Press Writer
8/17/01
Carlsons Raiders return
WASHINGTON (AP) - Playing ``Onward! Christian Soldiers,'' the Marine Band marched Friday along the twisting paths of Arlington National Cemetery to the open grave sites of 13 World War II Marines whose remains had lain nearly 60 years in a mass grave on a South Pacific battlefield.
The full honors ceremony marked the homecoming of 2nd Raider Battalion Marines killed during a 1942 raid on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands.
The battalion destroyed most of its target, a Japanese seaplane base. But, hurriedly departing under fire from hostile aircraft, they were unable to carry away their dead.
``Marines of today draw inspiration from the 'Greatest Generation,''' said Gen. James L. Jones, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps., at a service in Fort Myer Chapel. ``We learn from their courage.''
Jones said the raid lifted American morale early in the war and demonstrated the nation was willing to take the fight to the enemy.
A horse-drawn caisson carried a casket containing remains that forensic experts were unable to identify.
``These men were found in the same grave with their weapons and hand grenades,'' said Bill Fisher, 75, a 2nd Battalion Raider.
A Marine honor guard lifted the flag-draped casket from the caisson and placed it among the coffins of individual Marines arrayed at the grave site in front of hundreds of family members.
``Taps'' played by a lone bugler resonated through the silent afternoon. The flag from the casket with the remains of the unknowns was folded and given to Jones. Marines from the honor guard then handed each family the flag of its dead relative.
Hugh Thomason, of Bowling Green, Ky., took the flag of his half brother, Sgt. Clyde Thomason.
``I had to sort of think of other things, otherwise I may not have been in a good emotional state to receive the flag,'' said Thomason, 80, also a Marine who served in World War II and Korea. ``It is representative of the esteem him and the other men are held in by the Marine Corps and other Americans.''
Thomason, who said his half brother was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, said, ``It was very satisfying to bring the return of the remains to a close.''
The ceremony ended with a 21-gun salute.
The Defense Department made an unsuccessful attempt to recover remains on Makin in 1949. The search was renewed in 1998 by relatives of the dead and other World War II veterans. The break came when searchers found an elderly island resident who had helped bury the bodies as a young boy.
The 19 bodies were recovered two years ago and identified by the Army's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. Six were returned to relatives who opted for private burials.
Investigators said they will begin searching next year for the remains of additional missing Marines who, military officials believe, were captured and executed by the Japanese on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands.
dailynews.yahoo.com some pics included |
