Branch: USMCR Unit: F Company 2 nd Marine Battalion, 8 th Marine Regiment Location of Recovery: Betio, Tarawa, Gilbert Islands (Modern Day Kiribati) Date of Loss: November 20, 1943 Status: ACCOUNTED FOR Circumstances: On May 16, 2011, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Private Herman Fred Sturmer Jr., missing from World War II.
Marine Corps from Washington and served with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division.
On November 20, 1943, he was killed during the amphibious assault on Betio Island, as part of the Battle of Tarawa.
He was buried on Betio, but his remains were not recovered in the immediate aftermath of the war.
In 2002, a construction crew working on Betio recovered human remains and military equipment, and these remains were accessioned to the Central Identification Laboratory-Hawaii (now DPAA).
DPAA forensic analysts eventually identified these remains as those of Private Sturmer.
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