(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Marine Cpl. Raymond Tuhey was 24. He was born in Chicago and grew up in Lombard. On Nov. 23, 1943, he was killed while fighting on the atoll of Tarawa in World War II.
“[His family was] notified of his death on Christmas Eve of that year,” said Deborah Meyer, Tuhey’s niece.
Meyer said her grandmother, Loretta Tuhey, and her father were the ones who got the news.
“My dad was 15 at the time, and I think he and his mother were the only ones home,” she said. “And that always kind of rained down on his Christmas every year.”
Raymond Tuhey’s body was not recovered. Year after year following the news of Raymond Tuhey’s death, Loretta Tuhey received letters from the Pentagon.
“And then, in 1949, she received one that said his remains have been declared non-recoverable,” Meyer said.
The family believed that was the end of it, but a few years ago, the nonprofit group History Flight recovered remains on Tarawa. They were identified as Raymond Tuhey's.
Those remains also dispelled a story the family had come to believe: that Tuhey was killed by a flamethrower. Instead, the remains indicated he had been shot in the head.
“So, for me, finding that information out was certainly comforting and put me at ease,” said Bob Tuhey, the corporal’s nephew.
Because, he added, it meant his uncle probably did not suffer.
Tuhey was part of a Marine force that landed against stiff Japanese resistance in an attempt to secure the island. He was among 1,000 Marines and sailors who were killed in what defense officials said was ultimately a successful mission.
On June 5, Meyer and Bob Tuhey will be at Arlington National Cemetery, along with other family members, for the burial of Raymond Tuhey's remains.
“I want to honor him,” Meyer said. “Because I know that my dad and his whole family, as sad as they were, they were very proud.”
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