Born December 12, 1917, in Houston, Texas, Justin was the 2nd of three children blessed to the union of Roger Quarles and Aline Mary (nee Ruiz) Mills.

Before his baby sister was born, the family moved to Grandpa and Grandma Mills’ farm in Lockhart. Jobs were tough to come by in those days though. Roger worked for a bit in Lockhart as an automobile mechanic and later surveying ship cargo in Galveston where he moved the family. After graduating high school, Justin returned to his grandparents’ farm. When Green passed in July of 1934, his namesake helped keep things running smoothly for his Grandma Mary.

Justin was already serving our country when Japanese Imperial Forces attacked Pearl Harbor. After high school, he’d joined the Marine Corps Reserves and earned some additional money as an office boy at the steam railroad where his father was a policeman. He later re-enlisted though in San Diego on June 9, 1942 and continued to advance through the ranks. When SGT Mills shipped out into the Pacific Theater, he was an absolute force to be reckoned with. His first taste of combat came at the Battle of Guadalcanal, where he would lead platoon - and fight along side them - valiantly. For his actions there, “Tex” was awarded the Silver Star.

SILVER STAR CITATION

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant Justin G. Mills (MCSN: 0-11121), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity during action against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands Area on November 3, 1942. Commanding a platoon of Company C, First Battalion, Second Marines Reinforced, in an attack against heavy hostile resistance along the beach on the right side of the zone of action, Second Lieutenant Mills, when his platoon encountered vigorous opposition, courageously pushed forward in the face of machine gun, mortar and point-blank 37-mm gunfire. Although his platoon suffered heavy casualties, he succeeded in capturing and holding his objective. His heroic devotion to duty, maintained at great risk in the face of grave danger, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

The troops were sent to Wellington, New Zealand for some R&R and to await orders of their next mission. It’s no surprise that during his time there SGT Mills was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant.

First Lieutenant Mills was with his brothers in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion of the 2nd Marines (C-1/2) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC

The mission of the 2nd Marine Division 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 of the "Battle of Tarawa") when young Justin - just 25 years old - perished. He was reportedly buried in Division Cemetery 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.

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 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company (604th GRC) centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa to Lone Palm Cemetery for later repatriation; however, almost half of the known casualties were never found. No recovered remains could be associated with 1LT Mills, and on October 7, 1949, a Board of Review declared Buddy “non-recoverable.”

Left to mourn his passing were Justin’s parents and sisters, Rita Aline and Lydia Marie. For their son’s courageous sacrifice, Mr & Mrs Mills received the Purple Heart.

in 2014, History Flight recovered the remains of American Servicemembers from the Battle of Tarawa. The Department of Defense repatriated them to Honolulu, Hawaii.

On August 19, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of First Lieutenant Justin Green Mills, missing from World War II.

First Lieutenant Mills entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Texas and was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 20, 1943, during the Battle of Tarawa, and his body was recovered and buried at Betio Island. His remains were not identified among those disinterred from the atoll in 1946. In 2014, excavations by the private organization History Flight, Inc. located Cemetery 26 on Betio. In 2015, History Flight returned to Cemetery 26 and uncovered several sets of remains that corresponded the site where 1stLt Mills was buried. The remains were eventually accessioned into a DPAA laboratory in the U.S., where analysts eventually identified some of them as those of 1stLt Mills.

First Lieutenant Mills is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Welcome Home, 1st LT. Mills

Semper Fidelis