Recovery profile

PFC John Michael Fahy

Name PFC John Michael Fahy Branch: USMC Unit: D Company 1 st Marine Battalion, 6 th Marine Regiment Location of Recovery: Betio, Tarawa, Gilbert Islands (Modern Day Kiribati) Date of Loss: November 22, 1943 Status: ACCOUNTED FOR / Recovered by History Flight 2019 Circumstances: On June 5, 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class John Michael Fahy, missing from World War II.

History Flight recovery record

Marine Corps from New, York, NY and served with Company D, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division.

He was killed in action on November 22, 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, PFC Fahy’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.

DPAA was eventually able to identify PFC Fahy from among these remains.

Findagrave Missingmarines.com DPAA Press Release DPAA Profile

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