Missing WWII Marine makes final journey home
Family members watched as eight white-gloved Marines escorted the American flag-adorned casket from an airplane into an ivory hearse on the Tallahassee International Airport's taxiway on Tuesday.
Some watched with hands on their hearts, others with solemn expressions, hands folded in front of them.
Inside that casket were the recently identified remains of World War II Marine Corps Private First Class James O. Whitehurst of Ashford, Alabama.
Whitehurst has been listed for more than 70 years as a missing-in-action prisoner of war. Whitehurst will finally go home on Wednesday to be laid to rest beside his other relatives in the Cowarts Baptist Church Cemetery in Alabama.
Whitehurst was killed on the first day of the Battle of Tarawa, Nov. 20, 1943, on Betio Island, part of the Gilbert Islands' Tarawa atoll, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
His remains were found next to another Marine killed in the battle. A building near them had to be razed to retrieve the 33 other Marines who were buried beneath it, said Charles Odom, Whitehurst's nephew. Odom said his uncle was 17 years old when he began serving.
Around 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed and more than 2,000 wounded during the decisive battle that defeated Japanese forces. The victory was significant 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," a DPAA statement read.
The remains were found in June 2015 by History Flight, a nonprofit organization that aims to research and locate missing-in-action service members. After conducting dental and anthropological analyses, scientists identified Whitehurst. DPAA thanked History Flight for its efforts in locating and identifying the battle's fallen Marines.
Among the family members present at Tuesday's procession was Whitehurst's eldest nephew, Larry Palmer. Though he had never met or knew his late uncle, his mother was close to him, he said. He remembers the letters from Whitehurst that his mother cherished. She'd often speak about him and their childhood together.
"The feeling of his return is phenomenal to me, and to a lot of people," Palmer said. "We have a lot of people to thank for him being able to return here. It makes you have a humble heart."
When Odom was contacted by History Flight informing him of his uncle's remains, he was shocked — so much that he hoped it wasn't a fraud. But the feelings of surprise soon gave way to gratefulness when he learned more about the discovery.
Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt Melvin Glen Ashley helped escort the remains from Hawaii to Tallahassee and at the airport procession.
"There's a lot of honor with it because it is a part of the Marine Corps history and everything that we embody within fighting battles and protecting America," Ashley said. "This just happened to be one of the Marines, a fallen Marine, at probably one of the most prestigious battles in Marine Corps history. It was an honor to be a part of that."
In World War II, more than 400,000 American servicemen were killed. DPAA estimates there are still more than 73,000 who are unaccounted for from the war.
Reach Nada Hassanein at nhassanein@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @nhassanein_.