On August 25, 2017, Marine Corps Reserve CPL Henry Andregg, Jr., 23, killed in World War II, was finally laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.

Born 17 March 1920, in Whitwell, Tennessee, Henry Andregg Jr was the youngest son and 8th of 9 children blessed to the union of Henry Sr. and Fannie Ann (Holloway) Andregg.

When Junior was just 14, soon after the family moved from Marion County to Chattanooga, they lost their father in an auto accident; their mother passed just 3 years later.

On June 6, 1942, the 22-year-old Andregg boy walked into the Marine Corps office and enlisted. He trained at Marine Corps Base San Diego prior to shipping out into the Pacific Theater, bound for Wellington, New Zealand. There he would prepare for his first battle.

The 2nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion was activated on March 18, 1942, at Marine Barracks San Diego. A unit of the 2nd Marine Division, they were equipped with the LVT-1 - the boys called 'em "AMTRACs". Junior's unit was shipped out with the First Marine Division to meet the Japanese tide sweeping across the South Pacific. Private First Class Andregg's first taste of combat would come in the Solomon Islands.

Following the "Battle of Guadalcanal", the guys enjoyed the sights, scenes and hospitality of Wellington, New Zealand. There, many received medical treatment for tropical ailments, such as malaria; while some continued to suffer wounds - of all kinds - dealt by their Japanese foes. Marines coming fresh from the United States would fill in the ranks. Corporal Andregg's promotion meant that some of these kids were his responsibility. He taught them that "it is the hits that count", the value of your AMTRAC and her crew, and the virtues of "dedication, perseverance, and training". Before they shipped out, Junior also explained carefully all that the Japanese - and the Solomons - had just taught the Battalion.

Corporal Andregg was with this brothers in the Charlie Company of the 2nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion of the 2nd Marine Division when they landed on Betio. Their mission 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 20th (D-Day for the "Battle of Tarawa"), when young Henry - just 23 years old - perished. He was reportedly buried on Betio Island - a temporary location chosen by his fellow Marines, the survivors of the battle, 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, Henry's family accepted the following medals and decorations:
- Purple Heart
- Combat Action Ribbon
- Presidential Unit Citation, awarded to 2nd Marine Division for their service on Tarawa
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one bronze campaign star
- World War II Victory Medal
- Rifle Marksman badge
- Pistol Marksman badge

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 May 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company of the American Graves Registration Services (AGRS) had recovered 532 sets of remains from burial sites across the Tarawa Atoll and interred them in Lone Palm Cemetery. The remains that could not be identified were designated as "Unknowns."

In November 1946, the U.S. Army began disinterment to bring the remains to Oahu for identification at the Central Identification Laboratory. In 1949 and 1950, the remains that could not be identified were interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP – also known as the "Punchbowl") in Honolulu. On October 3, 1949, a military review board declared Junior "non-recoverable".

On August 29, 2014, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of CPL Andregg and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Henry's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered Mrs Peggy (Wagner) Kelly the opportunity to provide a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for her Uncle Henry's identification.

In October 2016, due to recent advances in forensic technology, Department of Veterans Affairs began the exhumation of "Unknown" remains associated with Tarawa from NMCP and sent the remains to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's laboratory for analysis.

On May 9, 2017, the DPAA identified the remains of Corporal Henry Andregg Jr, and his family received "The Call" from the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section with the good news. To identify his remains, scientists from DPAA examined circumstantial evidence and conducted laboratory analyses, including dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparisons, which matched his records.

Junior was finally returned to his family and, on August 25, 2017, laid to rest at Chattanooga National Cemetery, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with full military honors.

CPL Andregg was preceded in death by his parents, Henry Sr. and Fannie Ann Andregg; his sister Thelma Andregg, and his brother, Harry Andregg.

Those left to cherish his memory included his sisters, Charlotte Webb, Naomi Dawson, Peggy Jenkins, Susie Wagner, Elizabeth Lasater, and his brother, William Andregg - all now deceased.

Welcoming Junior home were his nieces and nephews, Dorothy (Webb) Rogers, Glenna (Webb) Raulston, Patsy (Andregg) Hubbard, Nancy (Lasater) Harris, Drenda (Webb) VanHooser, Butch Andregg, Tim Lasater, George Wagner, and Peggy (Wagner) Kelly, as well as many other extended family members.

Funeral services were held in the funeral home chapel on Friday, August 25 at 10:00 a.m., with Rev. Brenda Woods officiating. Cpl. Andregg was then escorted by 1st Sergeant William Conner, of Battery M, 3rd Btn, 14th Marine Division. Burial followed at the Chattanooga National Cemetery with full military honors provided. The family received friends on Thursday, August 24, from 3:00 until 7:00 p.m.

The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Sequatchie Valley Honor Guard, P.O. Box 786, Jasper, TN, 37347.

Marine Corps Reserve Corporal Henry Andregg, Jr is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, CPL Andregg's name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 2 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette has been placed next to his name to indicate Henry is no longer missing (55922388, a cenotaph).

SOURCES
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 17-090 (Aug. 23, 2017)
DPAA Recent News & Stories (May 19, 2017)
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
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Note from the memorial maintainer:
I am grateful to Chuck Williams & Hattie Johnson (USMC POW/MIA Section), the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab, the DVA and the DPAA for their efforts in bringing my Marine home. "It takes a village!"