UPDATE - June 23, 2021

Donald Stoddard (131768538)

FUNERAL ANNOUNCEMENT ***

History Flight

23 JUNE 2021

**Funeral Update** - Arriving today at Denver International Airport.

Welcome home Marine Corps Sergeant Donald Deloy Stoddard

Age: 21

Hometown: Vale, South Dakota

Unit: 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. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, more than 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated.

Sergeant Stoddard died on the third day of the battle, 22 November 1943 during a Japanese Banzai attack.

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 Sergeant Stoddard and in October 1949, a Board of Review declared him "non-recoverable."

In mid-2019, History Flight Archaeologists located multiple sets of remains from the missing "Row D" of Cemetery 33 and turned them over to DPAA for identification, one set of those remains recovered were confirmed as being that of Sergeant Stoddard.

Sergeant Stoddard will arrive today, Wednesday 23 June at Denver International Airport and will make his way to Boulder, CO for burial this Saturday, June 26, in Mountain View Memorial Park.

You can read more about the life of this Marine and many other great Americans posted by Geoff Roecker and our friends at missing marines.

https://missingmarines.com/.../accounted-for-donald-d.../

Contributor: usafdo (48612389)

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UPDATE: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Marine Corps Sgt. Donald D. Stoddard, 22, killed during World War II, was accounted for on March 16, 2020.

In November 1943, Stoddard 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. Stoddard died on the third day of battle, Nov. 22, 1943. He was reported to have been buried in Row D of the East Division Cemetery, later renamed Cemetery 33.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1193.

Stoddard's personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XkAPEA0.

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This grave marker is a cenotaph. It is located in the same lot as his parents George E. Stoddard and Bess Stoddard Hass. See this cenotaph memorial for Donald.

Marine Sgt. Donald Deloye Stoddard was killed in action at the horrific battle of Tarawa. His remains have yet to be located. His name is among those listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii.

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Marine Corps SGT Donald Deloye Stoddard, 22, killed in World War II, will finally be returned to his family and, on June 26, 2021, laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.

Born January 5, 1922, in Boulder, Colorado, Donald was blessed to the union of George Enos and Bessie Irene (nee Seitz) Stoddard.

Sergeant Stoddard was with his brothers in Bravo Company, 1st Battalion of the 6th Marines (B-1/6) 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 22, 1943 (D+2 of the "Battle of Tarawa"), when Donald - just 22 years old - perished. He was reportedly buried in Row D of the East Division Cemetery, later renamed Cemetery 33, 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.

For his service and sacrifice, Donald's parents received the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation.

Also left to mourn his passing were siblings, Hanford George Stoddard, Roseada Stoddard McKeehan, Joanne Lee Stoddard Lewis and Charlene Mae Stoddard Welsh.

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 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio, but SGT Stoddard's remains were not recovered. On October 28, 1949, a military review board declared Donald "non-recoverable".

Donald's family had a memorial marker placed at Mountain View Memorial Park, in Boulder, Colorado, in hopes that one day he would be found and returned home. His father would later be laid to rest next to this marker - its empty ground still offering no peace (131768538).

On September 24, 2013, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of SGT Stoddard and put them in contact with the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Donald's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered Donald McKeehan the opportunity to provide a Family Reference DNA Sample, should it be necessary for his Uncle Donald's identification.

On March 16, 2020, the DPAA identified the remains of SGT Stoddard, and his family received "The Call" from the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section with the good news.

Don will finally be returned to his family and, on June 26, 2021, laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.

Marine Corps Sergeant Donald Deloye Stoddard is memorialized among at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, SGT Stoddard's name shall remain permanently inscribed on Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate Donald has finally been found (56132745, a cenotaph).

SOURCE

Marine Corps POW/MIA Section

DPAA Release No: 20-027 (April 6, 2020)

American Battle Monuments Commission

Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist

Donald D Stoddard