Marine Pfc. Jack Van Zandt returned to Danville recently after leaving in 1942 to fight in the Pacific during World War II.
Van Zandt was one of more than 1,000 Marines and sailors who died during a three-day battle on Tarawa. His remains were among those recently discovered on the island.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced in late fall Van Zandt, then 22, was accounted for on Sep. 23, 2019.
In November 1943, Van Zandt was a member of Company A, 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.
During several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, about 1,000 Marines and sailors died and more than 2,000 were wounded. The Japanese defenders were virtually annihilated.
https://warhead.su/2019/02/20/atoll-tarava-pervyy-blin-poamerikanski
Van Zandt was killed on the third day of the battle, Nov. 22, 1943. His remains were reportedly buried in East Division Cemetery on Betio Island.
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 Van Zandt, and in October 1949, a Board of Review declared him “non-recoverable.” With the extreme environmental conditions in the South Pacific, the servicemen’s remains were hastily buried in trenches.
For more than seven decades, few Americans, including the families of the missing, were aware that Marines remained buried on or near Betio. Since 2007, History Flights has been actively searching for and recovering remains nearly year-round on Betio.
In 2014, History Flight located a site correlated with Cemetery 33. Excavations of the site uncovered multiple sets of remains, which were turned over to Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in 2015, where they were subsequently accessioned to the laboratory.
A History Flight expedition uncovered “Row D” and brought the remains back to the United States for laboratory analysis. Of about 30 remains recovered, Van Zandt is the fifth to be identified.
To identify Van Zandt’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material evidence.
Van Zandt’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others killed or lost in WWII.
Funeral services for Van Zandt were conducted Tuesday in Danville.
Van Zandt was born in Rossville, Ill., on Oct. 8, 1921. He grew up and attended school in Danville. Following his graduation, he moved to Indianapolis to work for the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company.
Following his enlistment in May 1942, Van Zandt was assigned to Company A, 6th Marines. He fought with them in the closing weeks of the Guadalcanal campaign, and then on Tarawa.
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is grateful to the United States Marine Corps for its assistance in this mission. Additionally, DPAA is appreciative to History Flight, Inc., for their partnership in this mission.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. There are 72,641 service members still unaccounted for from World War II with about 30,000 assessed as possibly recoverable.
Louisville Marine Killed During WWII To Be Buried Monday
https://wfpl.org/louisville-marine-killed-during-wwii-to-be-buried-monday/
