Wiesehan, Louis Jr.
Marines Private 1st class

Louis Jr. Wiesehan, age 20, from Richmond, Indiana, Wayne county.

Parents: Marie Wiesehan

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, November 21, 1943
Death details: On September 23, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class Louis Wiesehan Jr., missing from World War II. Wiesehan joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Indiana and was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 21, 1943, during the amphibious assault on the Japanese-held Betio Island during the Battle of Tarawa. His remains were buried in one of the Marine cemeteries on Betio Island, but they were not recovered when U.S. personnel consolidated the remains on the island. In 2015, the private organization History Flight located a site on Betio Island that was later identified as Marine Division Cemetery 27. Remains recovered from the cemetery were accessioned into the DPAA laboratory in Honolulu, Hawaii, where, based on laboratory analysis and circumstantial evidence, Wiesehan was identified from among these remains.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency