Mattern, Wilbur Clyde
Marines Private 1st class

Wilbur Clyde Mattern, age 23, from Burbank, California, Los Angeles county.

Parents: Phile J. Mattern

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, November 21, 1943
Death details: On August 9, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced the identification of Private First Class Wilbur Clyde Mattern, missing from World War II. Private First Class Mattern, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Iowa, was assigned to Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. On November 21, 1943, he was killed on the second day of battle, during the amphibious assault on Betio Island, as part of the Battle of Tarawa. He was buried in 8th Marines Cemetery #2, later designated as #27, on Betio; however, his remains could not be identified from among the remains recovered from Betio after the war. In 2015, the independent investigative group History Flight, in partnership with DPAA, located a burial trench on Betio and recovered human remains there. DPAA analysts identified PFC Mattern from among these remains.
Cemetery: Arlington National

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency