| Name | CPL Quentin Weldon McCall |
| Branch: | USMC |
| Unit: | I Company 3rd Marine Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment |
| Location of Recovery: | Betio, Tarawa, Gilbert Islands (Modern Day Kiribati) |
| Date of Loss: | November 23, 1943 |
| Status: | ACCOUNTED FOR / Recovered by History Flight 2019 |
Circumstances:
On September 27, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class Quentin Weldon McCall.
CPL McCall joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Union Church, Mississippi and served with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 23, 1943, during the 2nd Marine Division’s invasion of the Japanese-held Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands. He was reportedly buried in Cemetery 33 on Betio. After the close of World War II, Graves Registration personnel recovered the remains of U.S. service members buried on Betio; however, CPL McCall’s remains were not among those recovered. In 2009, the non-profit organization History Flight located Cemetery 33 on Betio. History Flight began excavating the area around Cemetery 33, leading to the recovery of remains in 2019 from a previously undiscovered burial trench west of the cemetery recorded as “Row D”. DPAA was eventually able to identify CPL McCall from among these remains. Scientists used circumstantial evidence and laboratory analyses to identify PFC McCall from among the recovered remains.
McCall’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
McCall will be buried 25 October 2021 at the Mississippi State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Newton, MS
