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221 men from the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion took part in the Makin Raid on August 17th, 1942. 21 were killed during the action. 9 were separated from the main force during the raider’s retreat and taken prisoner by the Japanese, then being transported to Kwajalein, where they were beheaded by their captors on October 16th, 1942.
Each of the nine men who were murdered after being taken prisoner have beside his name. It is the American symbol for the Prisoners of War and Missing in Action who lost their lives during American-involved conflicts.
Robert Allard James Beecher Vernon Castle Dallas Cook
Richard Davis I B Earles Daniel Gaston Joseph Gifford
Ashley Hicks Gerald Holtom Harris Johnson John Kerns
Kenneth Kunkle Carlyle Larson Edward Maciejewski Alden Mattison
Robert Maulding Kenneth Montgomery Norman Mortensen Franklin Nodland
Richard Olbert William Pallesen Robert Pearson Donald Roberton
Charles Selby Cletus Smith Clyde Thomason John Vandenberg
Medal of Honor Recipient
Mason Yarbrough William Gallagher
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