On March 28, 2017, Marine Corps PVT Harry Kay Tye, 21, killed in World War II, was finally laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.
Born June 23, 1922 in Orinoco, Kentucky, Harry was the middle child of 3 born blessed to the union of Fred Clay and Sarah Jane (nee Lake) Tye.
In the early 1930s, the family moved to Gallagher, West Virginia where Mr Tye worked as a mine foreman for Kool Coal. Harry's sisters were Ruby (Tye) Siemizczko and Dolores Mae (Mrs Sidney Allen Baldwin).
Private Tye was with his brothers in Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 8th Marines (E-2/8) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 20, 1943 (D-Day for the "Battle of Tarawa"), when young Harry - just 21 years old - perished. His was reportedly recovered and buried on Betio Island in the 8th Marines Cemetery #2, later designated as Cemetery #27 - a temporary location until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son or husband off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Harry's family accepted the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio Island, but PVT Tye's remains were not recovered. On February 28, 1949, a military review board declared Harry "non-recoverable".
In 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PVT Tye and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Harry's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered Timmy Baldwin the opportunity to provide the Family Reference DNA Sample ultimately necessary for his Uncle Harry's identification.
In June 2015, History Flight notified the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that they had discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015.
On May 6, 2016, the DPAA officially announced that PVT Tye had been accounted-for. To identify Tye's remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, which matched Mr Baldwin's; laboratory analysis, including dental analysis and anthropological comparison, which matched Tye's records; as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Harry was finally returned to his family and, on March 28, 2017, laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
Marine Corps Private Harry Kay Tye is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although PVT Tye has now been recovered and identified, his name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing" (56134067, a cenotaph). A rosette has been placed next to his name signifying that Harry is no longer missing.
News Articles -
"A Marine comes home from the war after more than 70 years" Washington Post
"73 years later, U.S. Marine buried at Arlington" WUSA9
Photos -
Washington Post
DVIDS (9 Photos)
DVIDS (13 Photos)
SOURCES
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 17-009 (March 21, 2017)
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from the memorial maintainer:
I am grateful to Chuck Williams & Hattie Johnson (USMC POW/MIA Section), the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab, History Flight and the DPAA for their efforts in bringing my Marine home. "It takes a village!"
Born June 23, 1922 in Orinoco, Kentucky, Harry was the middle child of 3 born blessed to the union of Fred Clay and Sarah Jane (nee Lake) Tye.
In the early 1930s, the family moved to Gallagher, West Virginia where Mr Tye worked as a mine foreman for Kool Coal. Harry's sisters were Ruby (Tye) Siemizczko and Dolores Mae (Mrs Sidney Allen Baldwin).
Private Tye was with his brothers in Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 8th Marines (E-2/8) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 20, 1943 (D-Day for the "Battle of Tarawa"), when young Harry - just 21 years old - perished. His was reportedly recovered and buried on Betio Island in the 8th Marines Cemetery #2, later designated as Cemetery #27 - a temporary location until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son or husband off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Harry's family accepted the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio Island, but PVT Tye's remains were not recovered. On February 28, 1949, a military review board declared Harry "non-recoverable".
In 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PVT Tye and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Harry's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered Timmy Baldwin the opportunity to provide the Family Reference DNA Sample ultimately necessary for his Uncle Harry's identification.
In June 2015, History Flight notified the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that they had discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015.
On May 6, 2016, the DPAA officially announced that PVT Tye had been accounted-for. To identify Tye's remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, which matched Mr Baldwin's; laboratory analysis, including dental analysis and anthropological comparison, which matched Tye's records; as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Harry was finally returned to his family and, on March 28, 2017, laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
Marine Corps Private Harry Kay Tye is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although PVT Tye has now been recovered and identified, his name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing" (56134067, a cenotaph). A rosette has been placed next to his name signifying that Harry is no longer missing.
News Articles -
"A Marine comes home from the war after more than 70 years" Washington Post
"73 years later, U.S. Marine buried at Arlington" WUSA9
Photos -
Washington Post
DVIDS (9 Photos)
DVIDS (13 Photos)
SOURCES
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 17-009 (March 21, 2017)
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from the memorial maintainer:
I am grateful to Chuck Williams & Hattie Johnson (USMC POW/MIA Section), the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab, History Flight and the DPAA for their efforts in bringing my Marine home. "It takes a village!"
On March 28, 2017, Marine Corps PVT Harry Kay Tye, 21, killed in World War II, was finally laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.
Born June 23, 1922 in Orinoco, Kentucky, Harry was the middle child of 3 born blessed to the union of Fred Clay and Sarah Jane (nee Lake) Tye.
In the early 1930s, the family moved to Gallagher, West Virginia where Mr Tye worked as a mine foreman for Kool Coal. Harry's sisters were Ruby (Tye) Siemizczko and Dolores Mae (Mrs Sidney Allen Baldwin).
Private Tye was with his brothers in Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 8th Marines (E-2/8) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 20, 1943 (D-Day for the "Battle of Tarawa"), when young Harry - just 21 years old - perished. His was reportedly recovered and buried on Betio Island in the 8th Marines Cemetery #2, later designated as Cemetery #27 - a temporary location until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son or husband off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Harry's family accepted the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio Island, but PVT Tye's remains were not recovered. On February 28, 1949, a military review board declared Harry "non-recoverable".
In 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PVT Tye and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Harry's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered Timmy Baldwin the opportunity to provide the Family Reference DNA Sample ultimately necessary for his Uncle Harry's identification.
In June 2015, History Flight notified the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that they had discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015.
On May 6, 2016, the DPAA officially announced that PVT Tye had been accounted-for. To identify Tye's remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, which matched Mr Baldwin's; laboratory analysis, including dental analysis and anthropological comparison, which matched Tye's records; as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Harry was finally returned to his family and, on March 28, 2017, laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
Marine Corps Private Harry Kay Tye is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although PVT Tye has now been recovered and identified, his name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing" (56134067, a cenotaph). A rosette has been placed next to his name signifying that Harry is no longer missing.
News Articles -
"A Marine comes home from the war after more than 70 years" Washington Post
"73 years later, U.S. Marine buried at Arlington" WUSA9
Photos -
Washington Post
DVIDS (9 Photos)
DVIDS (13 Photos)
SOURCES
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 17-009 (March 21, 2017)
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from the memorial maintainer:
I am grateful to Chuck Williams & Hattie Johnson (USMC POW/MIA Section), the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab, History Flight and the DPAA for their efforts in bringing my Marine home. "It takes a village!"
Born June 23, 1922 in Orinoco, Kentucky, Harry was the middle child of 3 born blessed to the union of Fred Clay and Sarah Jane (nee Lake) Tye.
In the early 1930s, the family moved to Gallagher, West Virginia where Mr Tye worked as a mine foreman for Kool Coal. Harry's sisters were Ruby (Tye) Siemizczko and Dolores Mae (Mrs Sidney Allen Baldwin).
Private Tye was with his brothers in Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 8th Marines (E-2/8) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 20, 1943 (D-Day for the "Battle of Tarawa"), when young Harry - just 21 years old - perished. His was reportedly recovered and buried on Betio Island in the 8th Marines Cemetery #2, later designated as Cemetery #27 - a temporary location until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son or husband off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Harry's family accepted the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio Island, but PVT Tye's remains were not recovered. On February 28, 1949, a military review board declared Harry "non-recoverable".
In 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of PVT Tye and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Harry's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered Timmy Baldwin the opportunity to provide the Family Reference DNA Sample ultimately necessary for his Uncle Harry's identification.
In June 2015, History Flight notified the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that they had discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015.
On May 6, 2016, the DPAA officially announced that PVT Tye had been accounted-for. To identify Tye's remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, which matched Mr Baldwin's; laboratory analysis, including dental analysis and anthropological comparison, which matched Tye's records; as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Harry was finally returned to his family and, on March 28, 2017, laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
Marine Corps Private Harry Kay Tye is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although PVT Tye has now been recovered and identified, his name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing" (56134067, a cenotaph). A rosette has been placed next to his name signifying that Harry is no longer missing.
News Articles -
"A Marine comes home from the war after more than 70 years" Washington Post
"73 years later, U.S. Marine buried at Arlington" WUSA9
Photos -
Washington Post
DVIDS (9 Photos)
DVIDS (13 Photos)
SOURCES
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 17-009 (March 21, 2017)
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from the memorial maintainer:
I am grateful to Chuck Williams & Hattie Johnson (USMC POW/MIA Section), the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab, History Flight and the DPAA for their efforts in bringing my Marine home. "It takes a village!"
Inscription
HARRY / KAY / TYE
PVT / US MARINE CORPS / WORLD WAR II
JUNE 23 1922 / NOV 23 1943
PURPLE HEART
