Remains of Kansas Marine killed during World War II identified

The remains of a Kansas Marine killed during World War II have been identified.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) said Marine Corps Pfc. Glenn F. White, 19, of Emporia, Kansas, was accounted for on June 7, 2021.

In November 1943, White was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated.

White died on the third day of battle, Nov. 22, 1943. He was reported to have been buried in Row D of the East Division Cemetery, later renamed Cemetery 33.