June 2, 2016 Identification from the Department of Defense

June 16, 2016 post from DoD

Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency June 16, 2016 ·

Navy Pharmacist's Mate 3rd Class Howard P. Brisbane, killed in World War II, has now been accounted for.

In November 1943, Brisbane was assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, which landed a 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, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded. Brisbane died sometime on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943.

In June 2015, a nongovernmental organization, History Flight, Inc., notified DPAA that they discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the battle.

Lab analysis, in conjunction with the totality of circumstantial evidence available, established Brisbane's remains were recovered at that time.

Interment services Arlington National Cemetery June 9, 2017

Welcome home and rest in peace, Pharmacist's Mate Brisbane.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/1210704/sailor-killed-in-world-war-ii-accounted-for-brisbane/

Press Release | June 2, 2017

Sailor Killed In World War II Accounted For (Brisbane)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, unaccounted for since World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Navy Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class Howard P. Brisbane, 21, of New Orleans, Louisiana, will be buried June 9, in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. In November 1943, Brisbane was assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, 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, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Brisbane was killed on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943.

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 Island, but Brisbane’s remains were not recovered. On Feb. 10, 1949, a military review board declared Brisbane’s remains non-recoverable.

In June 2015, a nongovernmental organization, History Flight, Inc., notified DPAA that they discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. service members who fought during the battle in November 1943. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015.

To identify Brisbane’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched a nephew; laboratory analysis, including dental and anthropological analysis, which matched Brisbane’s records, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.

DPAA is grateful to History Flight, Inc. for this recovery mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently, there are 73,057 service members still unaccounted for from World War II.

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 or call (703) 699-1420.

_____ Obituary from Jennifer Morrison______

On June 9, 2017, Navy Pharmacist's Mate 3rd Class Howard P. Brisbane, 21, killed in World War II, was finally laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.

Born December 26, 1921, Howard was the 2nd of three children blessed to the union of Albert Miles and Winnifred (nee Torgerson) Brisbane.

PHM3 Brisbane was with his brothers in Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines (HQ-2/8) 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 20, 1943 (D-Day for the "Battle of Tarawa") when young Howard - just 21 years old - perished. He was soon buried 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, Howard's parents accepted his Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation. Also left to mourn his passing were Howard's siblings; Margaret Hunt and Albert Miles Jr.

In June 2015, History Flight notified the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that they had discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. service members who fought during the battle in November 1943. The remains were turned over to DPAA in July 2015.

On June 2, 2016, PHM3 Brisbane was accounted-for. To identify his remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched a nephew; laboratory analysis, including dental and anthropological analysis, which matched Brisbane's records, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.

Howard was finally returned to his family and, on June 9, 2017, laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

Navy Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Howard Pascal Brisbane is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, PHM3 Brisbane's name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 5 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette has been placed next to his name to verify that Howard is no longer missing (56116314, a cenotaph).

SOURCE

DPAA Personnel Profile

DPAA Release No: 17-046 June 2, 2017

American Battle Monuments Commission

Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist

Inscription

HOWARD / PASCAL / BRISBANE

PHM3 / US NAVY / WORLD WAR II

DEC 26 1921 / NOV 20 1943

PURPLE HEART

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Media-Gallery/igphoto/2001760806/

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/military/fallen-and-forgotten/who-was-howard-brisbane-a-navy-sailor-his-family-never-knew-was-mia/65-490891436

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/military/fallen-and-forgotten/timeline-the-battle-of-tarawa-a-familys-journey-to-the-truth/65-490894590

https://www.wusa9.com/gallery/news/local/military/fallen-and-forgotten/photos-excavating-wwii-servicemembers-on-tarawa/65-490640573

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/american-bones-will-finally-come-home-after-shutdown-stops-mission/65-520905129

https://www.wusa9.com/gallery/news/local/military/fallen-and-forgotten/photos-excavating-wwii-servicemembers-on-tarawa/65-490640573

Brisbane, Howard Pascal