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Medal of Honor Awardees remains found by his Grandson on Tarawa (Betio Island)

Medal of Honor Awardees remains recovered by his Grandson on Tarawa (Betio Island)

The remains of East Tennessee Marine and Medal of Honor recipient Alexander "Sandy" Bonnyman Jr. have been recovered on the remote Pacific island of Tarawa.

"It was 90-something degrees on that island and I had shivers, just trying to hold back tears," Bonnyman's grandson told 10News about witnessing the find.

First Lt. Bonnyman was killed in battle on Nov. 22, 1943, during an assault on Japanese forces, Rare black and white video recorded some of his heroic final moments.


http://www.wbir.com/story/news/2015...-world-war-two-found-pacific-island/29448301/

His MoH Citation reads-

Citation
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Executive Officer of the 2d Battalion Shore Party, 8th Marines, 2d Marine Division, during the assault against enemy Japanese-held Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, 20-22 November 1943.

Acting on his own initiative when assault troops were pinned down at the far end of Betio Pier by the overwhelming fire of Japanese shore batteries, 1st Lt. Bonnyman repeatedly defied the blasting fury of the enemy bombardment to organize and lead the besieged men over the long, open pier to the beach and then, voluntarily obtaining flame throwers and demolitions, organized his pioneer shore party into assault demolitionists and directed the blowing of several hostile installations before the close of D-day.

Determined to effect an opening in the enemy's strongly organized defense line the following day, he voluntarily crawled approximately 40 yards forward of our lines and placed demolitions in the entrance of a large Japanese emplacement as the initial move in his planned attack against the heavily garrisoned, bombproof installation which was stubbornly resisting despite the destruction early in the action of a large number of Japanese who had been inflicting heavy casualties on our forces and holding up our advance.

Withdrawing only to replenish his ammunition, he led his men in a renewed assault, fearlessly exposing himself to the merciless slash of hostile fire as he stormed the formidable bastion, directed the placement of demolition charges in both entrances and seized the top of the bombproof position, flushing more than 100 of the enemy who were instantly cut down, and effecting the annihilation of approximately 150 troops inside the emplacement.

Assailed by additional Japanese after he had gained his objective, he made a heroic stand on the edge of the structure, defending his strategic position with indomitable determination in the face of the desperate charge and killing 3 of the enemy before he fell, mortally wounded.

By his dauntless fighting spirit, unrelenting aggressiveness and forceful leadership throughout 3 days of unremitting, violent battle, 1st Lt. Bonnyman had inspired his men to heroic effort, enabling them to beat off the counterattack and break the back of hostile resistance in that sector for an immediate gain of 400 yards with no further casualties to our forces in this zone. He gallantly gave his life for his country.


He was buried in a marked grave in 1943 but Navy Seabees extending the Japanese Airfield in 1944 apparently bulldozed part of the Cemetery losing him and 128 other Marines and Navy Corpsmen .
 
Just reading about this the other day on thisainthell.us

If the family wishes to make this a public event, I'll bet that they can get thousands to turn out for his funeral procession in Knoxville. When 278th ACR came home from Iraq they had a parade for us in Knoxville in April 2006 and there were tens of thousands who turned out for that event.
 
Just out of curiosity whilst it mentioned recovering remains of US Marines for repatriation are they doing the same for the Japanese remains they come across? I assume there must be some as the Japanese fought to the end?
 
The Japanese (all 4500 of them, remain churned in the coral sand. After 3 days only 13 were left alive.

I worked on Betio some years ago, and one morning found a human jawbone on the beach.

The battle for Betio was one of the hardest fought in WW2, with incredible determination and bravery from both sides.

I was honoured to spend time there, and walked most of the battlefield piece by piece, reading the stories as I walked from point to point.

Every man on that small island was a hero.
 
If anyone is interested I have some fascinating photos of what it's like now, including bunkers hit by 12 inch naval shells etc.

Happy to post.

RIP LT Bonneyman.

I have stood exactly where that pier was and knew the story about the desperate battle to size it.

The pier was originally built by the Burns Philp trading company, and no longer remains. Taking it was key to taking the island, which had been converted to a fortress airfield like a stationary aircraft carrier with very big guns and some very tough Japanese holding it.
 
The Japanese (all 4500 of them, remain churned in the coral sand. After 3 days only 13 were left alive.

I worked on Betio some years ago, and one morning found a human jawbone on the beach.

The battle for Betio was one of the hardest fought in WW2, with incredible determination and bravery from both sides.

I was honoured to spend time there, and walked most of the battlefield piece by piece, reading the stories as I walked from point to point.

Every man on that small island was a hero.
Just want to clarify to make sure I understand - of 4500 defenders, only 13 survived the battle??
 
Just want to clarify to make sure I understand - of 4500 defenders, only 13 survived the battle??

Correct. The internet says:

Of the 3,636 Japanese in the garrison, only one officer and sixteen enlisted men surrendered. Of the 1,200 Korean laborers brought to Tarawa to construct the defenses, only 129 survived. All told, 4,690 of the island's defenders were killed.

It's my understanding/memory that the numbers are wrong, and there was 4500 japanese Marines on the island. The 17 surrendered but four died of wounds overnight. Only 13 Japanese left the island.

It's worth reading about - probably the most ferocious battle of WW2.
 
The Burns Philp pier is the long extension at the top of the island.

The whole place was packed with fighting trenches, tunnels, massive guns and bunker complexes.

image.jpg
 
To take that small island the Americans needed 17 aircraft carriers, 12 battleships, 8 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, and 66 destroyers, The 2nd Marine Division and part of the US Army's 27th Infantry Division, Totaling around 35,000 men.

Even then it took three days of horrific fighting to take it.
 
A truly brave and dedicated man. Anyone who could have avoided service in the war with honour and didn't, has my respect.
 
Correct. The internet says:

Of the 3,636 Japanese in the garrison, only one officer and sixteen enlisted men surrendered. Of the 1,200 Korean laborers brought to Tarawa to construct the defenses, only 129 survived. All told, 4,690 of the island's defenders were killed.

It's my understanding/memory that the numbers are wrong, and there was 4500 japanese Marines on the island. The 17 surrendered but four died of wounds overnight. Only 13 Japanese left the island.

It's worth reading about - probably the most ferocious battle of WW2.

The phrase fcuk me comes to mind. Especially when you look at the scale of the map - looks like the island was only 3-4000 yards long? How many deaths per yard?
 
Correct. The internet says:
Of the 3,636 Japanese in the garrison, only one officer and sixteen enlisted men surrendered. Of the 1,200 Korean laborers brought to Tarawa to construct the defenses, only 129 survived. All told, 4,690 of the island's defenders were killed.

That's why I wondered if they were going to repatriate any Japanese as well but it looks like as Bumhole said they "remain churned in the coral sand" given the size of the island and the number of defenders and the amount of explosives used I would think it would be difficult to identify any individuals or come to that complete individual bodies.

Is the Island as a whole designated as a War Grave?
 
To take that small island the Americans needed 17 aircraft carriers, 12 battleships, 8 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, and 66 destroyers, The 2nd Marine Division and part of the US Army's 27th Infantry Division, Totaling around 35,000 men.

Even then it took three days of horrific fighting to take it.


The whole of the Pacific island hopping war was incredibly tough, a lot of it fought by the US Marines under Admiral Nimitz.
There are some very good books written by some of the survivors, these show that the Japs nearly always fought to the last man right up until Okinawa. The huge casualties experienced by the US showed that if they had gone on to attack & land on the main Japanese Islands the casualties would have been horrific. see..
"General Marshall, in conference with President Truman, estimated 31,000 in 30 days after landing in Kyushu. Admiral Leahy estimated that the invasion would cost 268,000 casualties. Personnel at the Navy Department estimated that the total losses to America would be between 1.7 and 4 million with 400,000 to 800,000 deaths. The same department estimated that there would be up to 10 million Japanese casualties. The ‘Los Angeles Times’ estimated that America would suffer up to 1 million casualties
Hence the use of Atomic bombs, to reduce casualties on BOTH sides.
 
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