> COMING HOME, 58 YEARS LATER
> > Jennifer
Harper
> > THE WASHINGTON TIMES
> >
> >
-----------------------------------------------------------
> >
>
> Marine's quest finally rewarded
> > Perhaps only God knows what
really happened one grim summer
> > afternoon in the Pacific during
World War II, but one lesson
> > can be learned: Buddies never forget
their own, even after
> > 58 years.
> >
> > Thursday,
Col. David Pagano of the U.S. Army Central
> > Identification
Laboratory in Hawaii formally announced that
> > the bodies of 19 of 30
long-lost Marines had been found in
> > December in a mass grave on an
island far from home.
> >
> > Butaritari Island in Kiribati,
to be exact.
> >
> > But in mid-August 1942, it was called
Makin Atoll, the site
> > of a fierce battle between American Marines
and a Japanese
> > garrison that left behind a complex mystery and one
very
> > determined leatherneck.
> >
> > An
18-year-old infantryman named Pvt. Ben Carson was a
> > member of the
2nd Raider Battalion - "Carlson's Raiders"
> > -named for their
commander, Col. Evans F. Carlson, who was
> > such a celebrated hero
after leading an endless patrol
> > behind enemy lines on Guadalcanal
that not one, but two,
> > popular songs were written about
him.
> >
> > "Each knows what he's fighting for, that's what
he had to
> > know, or he wouldn't be with Carlson on the road to
Tokyo,"
> > went one tune sung by none other than Pete Seeger and
Woody
> > Guthrie in 1942.
> >
> > The Raiders
arrived off Makin in a pair of submarines and
> > went right into
action.
> >
> > On Aug. 17, they attacked the
Japanese-occupied island,
> > killing 153 Japanese and destroying two
seaplanes. The
> > official death count had Raiders losing 18 of their
own in
> > the raid, including Clyde Thomason, a sergeant who
became
> > the first enlisted Marine to be awarded the Medal of
Honor
> > in the war.
> >
> > Maj. James Roosevelt -
FDR's son - was also a Raider; he was
> > unhurt in the battle.
>
>
> > In rain, high seas and some confusion, the battalion beat
it
> > back to the submarines, but not before Col. Carlson paid
>
> some local folks $50 to bury the slain Americans. By the
> > time
the battalion reached Hawaii, a sad discovery was made:
> > In addition
to the 18 Marines known to have been killed, 12
> > others were
missing.
> >
> > The fate of the missing Marines remained a
mystery, though
> > reports surfaced after the war that nine of the 12
had been
> > abandoned alive. They later surrendered and were beheaded
by
> > the Japanese on Kwajalein, an atoll in the Marshall
Islands.
> >
> > Ben Carson, meanwhile, never forgot his
comrades.
> >
> > Along with other former Raiders, he pestered
military and
> > governmental officials here and in the Pacific for
decades,
> > demanding they bring home the American dead and find
the
> > missing. He went so far as to revisit Butaritari.
>
>
> > The Army at last began a search in August 1998. Calls
went
> > out to retired Raiders and family members for any
> >
information. A kind of consortium emerged on the Internet as
> > folks
traded a few facts.
> >
> > The Raiders, incidentally, have
their own Web site at
> > www.geocities.com/pentagon/quarters/3805.
>
>
> > With the help of one old man who had been part of the
local
> > detail that had buried the Marines so long ago, the
Army
> > excavation team found the mass grave in December.
>
>
> > As the remains were removed to a waiting C-130
aircraft
> > under color guard, the old man stood in respect and sang
the
> > Marine Corps hymn in tribute.
> >
> > It will
take about a year to formally identify the bodies at
> > an Army
facility in Hawaii.
> >
> > And Mr. Carson - now 76 and living
in Hillsborough, Ore. -
> > was just plain elated.
> >
>
> "I'm very, very happy. Nothing could be better than this,"
> > he
said in December upon hearing that his buddies had
> > finally been
found.
> >
> > But his mission is not quite over. Pvt. Carson
wants the
> > Army to find all those Marines missing or killed. The
Army
> > does, too, though it is a challenge.
> >
> >
Kwajalein is an Army ballistic missile testing base, and the
> > last
man said to have witnessed the beheading of the Marines
> > is now
dead. The Japanese commander involved in the incident
> > was executed
for war crimes.
> >
> > "We just know of the story, and we
know of the trace of what
> > presumably happened. We have yet to get a
witness to tell us
> > where they were buried or if they were buried,"
Col. Pagano
> > said Thursday.
> >
> > He hopes that
someone, somewhere will surface.
> >
> > In the meantime, he
calls the fallen Raiders true heroes who
> > need to come home and be
properly tended to. And for their
> > families, the pain is as real now
as it was in the summer of
> > '42.
> >
> > "There is
a commitment in our organization to today's
> > service members that
if, God forbid, they should fall, their
> > country will bring them
home," Col. Pagano said.
> >
> >