Marine Corps GYSGT Arthur Branson Summers, 27, killed in World War II, was finally returned to his family and, on August 30 2022, laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.
Born June 30, 1916 in Poplar, Montana, Arthur was the 3rd of six chilren blessed to the union of A. B. and Louise "Lizzie" (nee Schmitz) Summers.
The 20-year-old high school graduate originally enlisted at a United States Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Seattle, Washington on November 12, 1936 to serve for a term of four years. On November 23, 1941, an extension assigned him to MDAE, Peiping, China (Extension of the Foreign Service Staff) and again on November 23, 1943 for General Services.
Gunnery Sergeant Summers was with his brothers in India Company, 3rd Battalion of the 6th Marines (I-3/6) 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 sometime between November 23 and 24, 1943, when young Arthur - just 27 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in 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, Arthur'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 siblings, Charlotte Anna McCannel, Frederick William Summers Sr, Mary Maxine Summers, James Durwood Summers and Murray Max Pierre Summers.
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 GYSGT Summers' remains were not recovered. In 1949, a military review board declared Arthur "non-recoverable".
In 2009, History Flight, Inc., in partnership with the predecessor of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, discovered a burial site on Betio Island believed to be Cemetery 33, which has been the site of numerous excavations ever since. In March 2019, excavations west of Cemetery 33 revealed a previously undiscovered burial site that has since been identified as Row D. The remains recovered at this site were transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
On October 17, 2019, the DPAA identified the remains of Gunnery Sergeant Arthur Branson Summers, and his family received "The Call" from the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section with the good news.
Arthur was finally returned to his family and, on August 30 2022, laid to rest in East Wenatchee, Washington with full military honors.
To identify his remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Summers is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, GYSGT Summers 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 Arthur is no longer missing (56132980).
SIBLINGS
Charlotte Anna McCannel (1912–2001)
Frederick William Summers Sr (1914–2000)
Mary Maxine Summers (1918–2007)
James Durwood Summers (1921–1992)
Murray Max Pierre Summers (1924–2006)
SOURCES
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 20-001 (Jan. 6, 2020)
DPAA Personnel Profile
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, volunteer forensic genealogist
Born June 30, 1916 in Poplar, Montana, Arthur was the 3rd of six chilren blessed to the union of A. B. and Louise "Lizzie" (nee Schmitz) Summers.
The 20-year-old high school graduate originally enlisted at a United States Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Seattle, Washington on November 12, 1936 to serve for a term of four years. On November 23, 1941, an extension assigned him to MDAE, Peiping, China (Extension of the Foreign Service Staff) and again on November 23, 1943 for General Services.
Gunnery Sergeant Summers was with his brothers in India Company, 3rd Battalion of the 6th Marines (I-3/6) 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 sometime between November 23 and 24, 1943, when young Arthur - just 27 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in 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, Arthur'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 siblings, Charlotte Anna McCannel, Frederick William Summers Sr, Mary Maxine Summers, James Durwood Summers and Murray Max Pierre Summers.
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 GYSGT Summers' remains were not recovered. In 1949, a military review board declared Arthur "non-recoverable".
In 2009, History Flight, Inc., in partnership with the predecessor of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, discovered a burial site on Betio Island believed to be Cemetery 33, which has been the site of numerous excavations ever since. In March 2019, excavations west of Cemetery 33 revealed a previously undiscovered burial site that has since been identified as Row D. The remains recovered at this site were transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
On October 17, 2019, the DPAA identified the remains of Gunnery Sergeant Arthur Branson Summers, and his family received "The Call" from the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section with the good news.
Arthur was finally returned to his family and, on August 30 2022, laid to rest in East Wenatchee, Washington with full military honors.
To identify his remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Summers is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, GYSGT Summers 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 Arthur is no longer missing (56132980).
SIBLINGS
Charlotte Anna McCannel (1912–2001)
Frederick William Summers Sr (1914–2000)
Mary Maxine Summers (1918–2007)
James Durwood Summers (1921–1992)
Murray Max Pierre Summers (1924–2006)
SOURCES
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 20-001 (Jan. 6, 2020)
DPAA Personnel Profile
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, volunteer forensic genealogist
Marine Corps GYSGT Arthur Branson Summers, 27, killed in World War II, was finally returned to his family and, on August 30 2022, laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.
Born June 30, 1916 in Poplar, Montana, Arthur was the 3rd of six chilren blessed to the union of A. B. and Louise "Lizzie" (nee Schmitz) Summers.
The 20-year-old high school graduate originally enlisted at a United States Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Seattle, Washington on November 12, 1936 to serve for a term of four years. On November 23, 1941, an extension assigned him to MDAE, Peiping, China (Extension of the Foreign Service Staff) and again on November 23, 1943 for General Services.
Gunnery Sergeant Summers was with his brothers in India Company, 3rd Battalion of the 6th Marines (I-3/6) 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 sometime between November 23 and 24, 1943, when young Arthur - just 27 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in 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, Arthur'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 siblings, Charlotte Anna McCannel, Frederick William Summers Sr, Mary Maxine Summers, James Durwood Summers and Murray Max Pierre Summers.
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 GYSGT Summers' remains were not recovered. In 1949, a military review board declared Arthur "non-recoverable".
In 2009, History Flight, Inc., in partnership with the predecessor of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, discovered a burial site on Betio Island believed to be Cemetery 33, which has been the site of numerous excavations ever since. In March 2019, excavations west of Cemetery 33 revealed a previously undiscovered burial site that has since been identified as Row D. The remains recovered at this site were transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
On October 17, 2019, the DPAA identified the remains of Gunnery Sergeant Arthur Branson Summers, and his family received "The Call" from the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section with the good news.
Arthur was finally returned to his family and, on August 30 2022, laid to rest in East Wenatchee, Washington with full military honors.
To identify his remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Summers is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, GYSGT Summers 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 Arthur is no longer missing (56132980).
SIBLINGS
Charlotte Anna McCannel (1912–2001)
Frederick William Summers Sr (1914–2000)
Mary Maxine Summers (1918–2007)
James Durwood Summers (1921–1992)
Murray Max Pierre Summers (1924–2006)
SOURCES
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 20-001 (Jan. 6, 2020)
DPAA Personnel Profile
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, volunteer forensic genealogist
Born June 30, 1916 in Poplar, Montana, Arthur was the 3rd of six chilren blessed to the union of A. B. and Louise "Lizzie" (nee Schmitz) Summers.
The 20-year-old high school graduate originally enlisted at a United States Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Seattle, Washington on November 12, 1936 to serve for a term of four years. On November 23, 1941, an extension assigned him to MDAE, Peiping, China (Extension of the Foreign Service Staff) and again on November 23, 1943 for General Services.
Gunnery Sergeant Summers was with his brothers in India Company, 3rd Battalion of the 6th Marines (I-3/6) 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 sometime between November 23 and 24, 1943, when young Arthur - just 27 years old - perished. He was reportedly soon buried in 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, Arthur'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 siblings, Charlotte Anna McCannel, Frederick William Summers Sr, Mary Maxine Summers, James Durwood Summers and Murray Max Pierre Summers.
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 GYSGT Summers' remains were not recovered. In 1949, a military review board declared Arthur "non-recoverable".
In 2009, History Flight, Inc., in partnership with the predecessor of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, discovered a burial site on Betio Island believed to be Cemetery 33, which has been the site of numerous excavations ever since. In March 2019, excavations west of Cemetery 33 revealed a previously undiscovered burial site that has since been identified as Row D. The remains recovered at this site were transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
On October 17, 2019, the DPAA identified the remains of Gunnery Sergeant Arthur Branson Summers, and his family received "The Call" from the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section with the good news.
Arthur was finally returned to his family and, on August 30 2022, laid to rest in East Wenatchee, Washington with full military honors.
To identify his remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Summers is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, GYSGT Summers 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 Arthur is no longer missing (56132980).
SIBLINGS
Charlotte Anna McCannel (1912–2001)
Frederick William Summers Sr (1914–2000)
Mary Maxine Summers (1918–2007)
James Durwood Summers (1921–1992)
Murray Max Pierre Summers (1924–2006)
SOURCES
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 20-001 (Jan. 6, 2020)
DPAA Personnel Profile
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, volunteer forensic genealogist
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