What They Carried: Deriving Context and Meaning from the Items Recovered in Graves of WWII Service Members in Tarawa

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

During WWII from 20–23 November 1943, U.S. forces invaded and fought for control of the Japanese-occupied Betio Island in the Battle of Tarawa. The battle resulted in the loss of 1,020 U.S. service members, with over 400 still remaining unaccounted for. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is responsible for the relocation, recovery, identification, and repatriation of the remains of unaccounted for service members. The DPAA and History Flight, an external provider, have conducted excavations to recovery these remains for over a decade on Betio Island. The post-battle creation of isolated burials, later consolidated into battlefield cemeteries, for the interment of unknown service members resulted in graves with associated material culture. Military-provided equipment, foreign items, and personal effects are just some of the items recovered alongside the remains. Their presence on the person contextualize the duties and responsibilities, behaviors, and sentiments of each service member along with larger overarching trends.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2023 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow