(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – A U.S. Marine Corps corporal from Chicago will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery next month, nearly 80 years after he was killed in battle on an atoll in the Pacific.
His name was Raymond J. Tuhey, and he was 24 years old when he died while serving in World War II.
The Defense Department says he was killed November 23, 1943, on Betio Island, part of the Gilbert Islands chain, now known as Kiribati.
Cpl. Tuhey was part of a Marine force that landed against stiff Japanese resistance in an attempt to secure the island.
One thousand Marines and sailors were killed in what defense officials say was ultimately a successful mission.
Cpl. Tuhey's remains were only recently identified, in 2020. Scientists used dental and anthropological analysis and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, officials said.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency says the fallen Marine will be buried June 5 in Arlington National Cemetery.
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