Marine Corps Pfc. Lyle E. Charpilloz, killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.
In November 1943, Charpilloz was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 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 intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Charpilloz died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943.
In May 2014, through a partnership with History Flight, Inc., DPAA received remains from a burial site on Tarawa. In October 2016, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
DPAA is grateful to History Fight, Inc. and the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnerships in this mission.
Interment services are pending; more information will be released 7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Charpilloz' name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Punchbowl along with the other MIAs from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
For more information about DPAA, visit www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call 703-699-1420.