John Taylor Burke, age 28, from Newton, North Carolina, Catawba county.
Parents: Henry M. Wagstaff
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On May 15, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class John Taylor Burke, missing from World War II. Private First Class Burke entered the U.S. Marine Corps from North Carolina and served in Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action between November 21 and November 23, during the amphibious assault on Betio Island during the Battle of Tarawa. His remains were initially recovered and buried in a temporary cemetery on the island; however, he could not be individually identified at the time, and PFC Burke was later interred as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (also known as the Punchbowl). In 2017, additional information and advances in forensic techniques led to the reexamination of unknowns from the Battle of Tarawa buried at the Punchbowl. DPAA analysts were eventually able to successfully identify PFC Burke from among these remains.
Cemetery: Buried in 2019 in Catawba County
Source: National Archives, 11 ABC, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency