Three More Accounted For
Defense MIA/POW Accounting Agency
Marine Accounted For From World War II
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Raymond J. Tuhey
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Raymond J. Tuhey, 24, of Chicago, Illinois, killed during World War II, was accounted for on April 20, 2020.
In November 1943, Tuhey was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Tuhey died on the fourth day of battle, Nov. 23, 1943. He was reported to have been buried in Row D of the East Division Cemetery, later renamed Cemetery 33.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa at Lone Palm Cemetery for later repatriation. However, almost half of the known casualties were never found. No recovered remains could be associated with Tuhey, and, in October 1949, a Board of Review declared him “non-recoverable.”
In 2009, History Flight, Inc., a nonprofit organization, discovered a burial site on Betio Island believed to be Cemetery 33, which has been the site of numerous excavations ever since. In March 2019, excavations west of Cemetery 33 revealed a previously undiscovered burial site that has since been identified as Row D. The remains recovered at this site were transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
To identify Tuhey’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Tuhey’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Tuhey will be buried on June 5, 2023, at Arlington National Cemetery.
Pilot Accounted For From World War II
U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. James Litherland
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. James Litherland, 25, of South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, killed during World War II, was accounted for March 16, 2023.
In February of 1944, Litherland was assigned to the 359th Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group (Heavy). On February 28, Litherland was co-piloting a B-17F Flying Fortress that was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German V-2 rocket site in Bois-Coquerel, France.
Before the plane crashed near the city of Le Translay, France three of the airmen parachuted successfully while the other seven crew members, including Litherland, were still on board.
In 1945 American investigators reviewed German documents detailing American planes and their crew during the war. Those documents revealed six sets of remains were recovered near the crash site Le Translay and were buried in the English World War I Memorial Cemetery at Abbeville, France on March 2, 1944. In June 1945 American Graves Registration team disinterred the six sets of remains from Abbeville and interred them in the United States Military Cemetery at St. Andre, France. Five of the six sets of remains were identified the one unknown set of remains was designated as X-452 St. Andre.
Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. In March 1947 AGRC investigators identified X-452 as being associated with Litherland but were unable to identify him and X-452 was transferred to Suresnes American Cemetery, France. Litherland was declared non-recoverable Dec. 26, 1950.
In September 2017, a DPAA Investigation Team traveled to Le Translay to locate Litherland’s crash site; in August 2018, a DPAA Recovery Team recovered material evidence and osseous remains from the site, which the DPAA laboratory accessioned for analysis. In October 2019, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed the unknown remains designated X-452 St. Andre, believed to be associated with Litherland, from Suresnes American Cemetery.
To identify Litherland’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and autosomal DNA (auSTR), analysis.
Litherland’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neupré, Belgium, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Litherland will be buried at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on a date yet to be determined.
Sailor Accounted For From World War II
U.S. Navy Aviation Radioman First Class Wilbur A. Mitts
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Navy Aviation Radioman First Class Wilbur A. Mitts, 24, of Seaside, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for Feb. 23, 2023.
In the fall of 1944, Mitts was the Aviation Radioman assigned to the Navy Torpedo Squadron 20, USS Enterprise. On Sept. 10, Mitts and two other crew members abroad the TBM-1C Avenger Bureau Number, 17018 took off from the USS Enterprise on a mission to conduct air strikes against enemy targets in Malakal Naval District, Palau Islands. Their aircraft was struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed into water near Malakal. Efforts to recover Mitts’ remains were unsuccessful.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service, the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, conducted exhaustive searches of battle areas and crash sites in Palau, concluding their search in the summer of 1947. Investigators could not find any evidence of Mitts or his aircraft.
From 2003 – 2018, the BentProp Project now known as Project Recover, and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) conducted six investigations resulted in the location of a site associated with the incident.
In May 2019, Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research, a DPAA partner organization excavated the site and recovered remains and material evidence.
In Sept. 2021, a subsequent excavation was completed by Project Recover, a nonprofit organization that works to search and recover missing Americans, where additional remains and material evidence were recovered.
Remains and material evidence were sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
To identify Mitts’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Mitts’ name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Mitts will be buried in Seaside, California on Sept. 11, 2023.
Category: No Longer Missing
CPL Raymond J. Tuhey:
“Raymond was the second child of Michael Aloysius and Loretta (Longmore) Tuhey. He was born in Chicago on 1 August 1919 and spent his earliest years in the Windy City – but the village of Lombard offered more space for the growing family, and they resettled during the 1920s. The Tuheys raised their five children on South Lombard Street, supported by Michael’s work as a plumbing company foreman.”
“Little information about Raymond’s life before the war is publicly available. He finished four years of high school, and in 1940 was working as a general helper at a local Lombard tavern.”
“A few weeks after his twenty-first birthday, Tuhey volunteered for a four-year hitch in the regular Marine Corps. He enlisted in Chicago on 24 September 1940, and was soon on his way to boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.”
“After completing boot camp, Private Tuhey was assigned to duty with Company M, Third Battalion, 8th Marines. He trained with this heavy weapons outfit through the winter of 1940-1941, and in the spring took part in the regiment’s record-setting 180-mile Cuyamaca Hike. Tuhey’s prowess was noted by his officers, and in April 1941 he received a promotion to Private First Class.”
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“Shortly thereafter, a call went out for volunteers to join the 6th Marines. Rumor had it that the regiment would be heading overseas. Several members of the 8th Marines wanted to see more action and less California scenery. A transfer was granted to PFC Tuhey, and he reported to his new command – Baker Company, First Battalion, 6th Marines – for transport overseas. The destination was not quite what the hard-charging volunteers expected: they were not off to fight the Germans, but to garrison Iceland. Instead of standing guard in San Diego, they stood guard in the freezing cold of Reykjavik. The greatest danger that befell PFC Tuhey in Iceland was slicing his finger on a tin of potatoes – an accident he reported to sick bay, and which was entered in the company muster roll. In the ultimate irony, he would be on the wrong side of the world when Pearl Harbor was attacked.”
“The thrill of being overseas and closer to the shooting war quickly wore off as garrison duty turned from routine to drudgery. There was little to do in Iceland; the Germans were not going to invade, nor was there much in the way of liberty. The 6th would not return to California until the spring of 1942, by which time the Pacific war was underway. The regiment turned in their distinctive polar bear patches, drew their new field uniforms, and began training to deploy to the other side of the globe. Their time would come in October 1942 with a sea voyage to New Zealand, and on to the Solomon islands in January 1943.”
“The 6th Marines joined in the battle of Guadalcanal during the later stages and fought through to the end of the campaign. Tuhey survived the battle without wounds or injury and departed for New Zealand in February of 1943. He would spent the next several months recuperating, enjoying liberty, and most of all training for the next operation – which turned out to be the invasion of Betio in the Tarawa atoll.”
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“Corporal Tuhey’s company landed on the island of Betio, Tarawa atoll, on the night of 21 November 1943. The battalion arrived ashore at Green Beach in rubber boats, and prepared for a morning attack to the east which would turn the flank of Japanese positions and help establish contact between hard-hit and depleted units still trapped along the Red beaches.”
“After a day of exhausting fighting, Baker Company dug in and prepared a night defense. They were in an exposed position, and that night a force of several hundred Japanese troops hit their lines, breaking through in a few places and causing chaos and mayhem through the night and into the early morning hours of 22 November. Ultimately, the Marines held, but paid a stiff price for maintaining their positions.”
“Raymond Tuhey survived the chaos and confusion of the banzai charge, but unfortunately would not live to see the end of the battle. On 23 November 1943, he suffered fatal gunshot wounds to the head – becoming the last member of Baker Company to die on the island of Betio.”
“Later that day, Tuhey and nearly thirty other men – many from his own First Battalion, 6th Marines – were laid to rest in a trench grave near where they fell. He was the seventh man buried in this location, called “Gilbert Islands Cemetery” by the 6th Marines, and “East Division Cemetery, Row D” by Graves Registration. The mass grave was later destroyed or built over, rendering the remains of all buried there non-recoverable.”
“The “Row D” burial site went undiscovered until the spring of 2019, when an archaeological expedition led by non-profit organization History Flight excavated the site and recovered human remains.”
“Raymond Tuhey was identified from the History Flight recovery and officially accounted for on 20 April 2020.”
CPL Raymond John Tuhey was buried at Arlington on 5 June 2023:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/209896996/raymond-john-tuhey
“For his service and sacrifice, Ray’s family accepted his awards and decorations, including:
– Purple Heart
– Combat Action Ribbon
– World War II Victory Medal
– American Campaign Medal
– Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation
– Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal
– Marine Corp Expeditionary Medal, and
– Gold Star Lapel Button.”
“Also left to mourn his passing were older brothers; Harold Tuhey, Edward Francis Tuhey and younger siblings; Margaret Tuhey (Mrs Carnahan), John Tuhey and Robert Thomas Tuhey.”
Rest In Peace.
Salute.
Never Forget.
Bring Them All Home.
Welcome home.
2nd LT James Litherland:
“Daughter Of PA Airman Killed In WWII Amazed At Effort Used To Identify His Remains”
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2023/05/daughter-of-pa-airman-killed-in-wwii-amazed-at-effort-used-to-identify-his-remains.html
“James Litherland III is coming home 79 years after he was killed in World War II.”
“Isn’t it amazing,” Suzanne Walker said about the efforts taken by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to identify the remains of her father killed in World War II.”
“Walker had the opportunity to have her father laid to rest in France but “I wanted him to be with his family,” she said.”
“His father and grandfather are buried in Wildwood Cemetery in Williamsport where there is a headstone for him, she said.”
“Litherland, 26, was the co-pilot of the Flying Fortress that was struck by anti-aircraft fire after a bombing raid on a German V-2 rocket site in Bois-Coquerel, France.”
“The plane went down Feb. 28, 1944, the same day Walker was born. “I imagine the grief of my mother,” she said.”
“The DPAA had difficulty locating her to obtain her DNA in the identification process because her last name changed twice, first by adoption and then by marriage, she said.”
“In her research about her father, she said she learned he was an outdoorsman and with friends had built a toboggan slide on the side of the mountain near their South Williamsport home.”
“He married the former Wilma Jane Wurster of South Williamsport and Walker was their only child.”
“Her late mother later married a Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Varre Cummins, who adopted her when she was 2. Her last name was changed to Cummins.”
“Being married to a minister helped her mother over the years cope with marking Litherland’s death and her daughter’s birthday simultaneously, she believes.”
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56359453/james-litherland
Rest In Peace.
Salute.
Never Forget.
ARM1 Wilbur Archie Mitts:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56756844/wilbur-archie-mitts
Rest In Peace.
Salute.
Never Forget.
Bring Them All Home.
A grateful nation remembers.
Thank you, Gentlemen.
Welcome home Brothers. Rest in peace now.
Always great news!
Welcome Home.
Welcome Home, Warriors. We Salute your Service and will Pay Honors to your Sacrifice. Every Fallen Service Member deserves a Marked Resting Place. BZ to the folks that never give up. Account for them all.
Thanks for bringing us the word of these Recovered Remains, Dave. And another thanks to our (we have the best) ninja (gabn/rtr/hbtd) for bringing us the “…rest of the story.” It is muchly appreciated.