Dwight Wade Randall, age 22, from Fresno., California, Fresno. county.
Parents: and John L. Randall
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On September 13, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant Dwight Wade Randall, missing from World War II. Sergeant Randall entered the U.S. Marine Corps from California and served in Company C, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion. On November 20, 1943, he was killed during the amphibious assault on Betio Island as part of the Battle of Tarawa. He was buried in a Marine cemetery on Betio, though specific details regarding his loss and burial of his remains were unrecorded at the time. Following the war, his remains were recovered, but were not identified at the time and were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2017, the remains were exhumed for further analysis, and DPAA analysts were able to employ modern forensic techniques to successfully identify them as those of Sgt Randall.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency