Name | PFC Manley Forrest Winkley |
Branch: | USMCR |
Unit: | B Company 1st Marine Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment |
Location of Recovery: | Betio, Tarawa, Gilbert Islands (Modern Day Kiribati) Cemetery 27 |
Date of Loss: | November 20, 1943 |
Status: | ACCOUNTED FOR |
Circumstances: On June 1, 2013, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class Manley Forrest Winkley, missing from World War II.
Private First Class Winkley, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Indiana, was a member of the Marine Corps 2nd Division. He was killed in action during the Battle of Tarawa on November 20, 1943, and his remains were buried on Betio Island but could not be identified among those disinterred from the island after the war. In 2012, JPAC teams conducted excavation operations in the Republic of Kiribati where they discovered remains and equipment of American service members who fought on Betio. Using advanced forensic identification techniques, U.S. analysts identified PFC Winkley from among these remains.