Aviation Machinists Mate 1st Class John O Morris
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Reserve Aviation Machinist’s Mate 1st Class John O. Morris, 22, of Seattle, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 13, 2018.
In late 1943, Morris was a member of Carrier Aircraft Service Unit (CASU) 17. In November 1943, American units 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, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Following the battle, the majority of units withdrew from the island, leaving only the chaplains and a defense garrison, including a series of U.S. Navy Construction Battalion, Seabee, units. CASU 17 was among those stationed on the island. On Dec. 16, 1943, Morris was killed during the test-firing of a machine gun. The weapon accidentally discharged, killing Morris. He was buried on the island, in Cemetery #33.
In the 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. The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio between 1946 and 1947, but Morris’ remains were not identified and he was declared non-recoverable.
In 2018, members of History Flight, Inc., a non-profit organization, uncovered a coffin burial in Cemetery #33 on Betio, and transferred the remains to DPAA.
To identify Morris’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
In late 1943, Morris was a member of Carrier Aircraft Service Unit (CASU) 17. In November 1943, American units 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, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Following the battle, the majority of units withdrew from the island, leaving only the chaplains and a defense garrison, including a series of U.S. Navy Construction Battalion, Seabee, units. CASU 17 was among those stationed on the island. On Dec. 16, 1943, Morris was killed during the test-firing of a machine gun. The weapon accidentally discharged, killing Morris. He was buried on the island, in Cemetery #33.
In the 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. The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio between 1946 and 1947, but Morris’ remains were not identified and he was declared non-recoverable.
In 2018, members of History Flight, Inc., a non-profit organization, uncovered a coffin burial in Cemetery #33 on Betio, and transferred the remains to DPAA.
To identify Morris’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.