https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/180509371/archie-william-newell

On December 8, 2017, Marine Corps PVT Archie William Newell, 22, killed in World War II, was finally laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.

Born June 3, 1921, in Faith, South Dakota, Archie William Newell was the first child blessed to the union of Arthur Francis "Archie" and Thresia May (nee Stevens) Newell.

Private Newell was with his brothers in Charlie Company of the 2nd Tank Battalion 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 Archie - just 22 years old - perished. He was reportedly buried in a memorial cemetery on Betio Island - a temporary location 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, Archie's parents accepted his awards and decorations, including:

- Purple Heart

- Combat Action Ribbon

- World War II Victory Medal

- American Campaign Medal

- Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation

- Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal

- Marine Corp Expeditionary Medal, and

- Gold Star Lapel Button.

Also left to mourn his passing were younger sisters, Laura Mae (Mrs Alvin Sjoquist) and Joyce Elaine (Mrs James Bush).

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. The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio between 1946 and 1947, but PVT Newell’s remains were not identified. All of the remains found on Tarawa were sent to the Schofield Barracks Central Identification Laboratory for identification in 1947. By 1949, the remains that had not been identified were interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP, known as the "Punchbowl"), in Honolulu.

In October 2016, the Department of Veterans Affairs disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-044 from the Punchbowl and sent to the laboratory for analysis.

On June 6, 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency officially accounted-for PVT Newell. To identify his remains, DPAA scientists used dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched his records, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.

Archie was finally returned to his family and, on December 8, 2017, laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

Marine Corps Private Archie William Newell is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, PVT Newell's name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette has been placed next to his name to verify that Archie has finally been found (56126892, a cenotaph).

SOURCES

Marine Corps POW/MIA Section

DPAA News Release (01.Dec.2017)

DPAA News Release (19.Jun.2017)

American Battle Monuments Commission

Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist

newell-anc-marker

NEWELL, Archie William