Gillen, John Eddy
Marine Reserves Private 1st class

John Eddy Gillen, age 20, from Champaign, Illinois, Champaign county.

Parents: Anna B. Gillen

Service era: World War II
Schools: Champaign High graduate
Military history: Company D, 1st battalion, 6th Marines

Date of death: Monday, November 22, 1943
Death details: On April 16, 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class John Eddy Gillen, missing from World War II. Private First Class Gillen, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Illinois, served with Company D, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action during the Battle of Tarawa on November 22, 1943, during the assault on the Japanese-controlled Betio Island of Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. His body was recovered at the time and was buried in Cemetery 33 on Betio Island, but after the war his remains could not be identified among those disinterred from the island’s grave sites. In 2019, History Flight, in partnership with DPAA, excavated a burial site associated with Cemetery 33 on Betio Island and recovered remains of U.S. Marines who fought during the Battle of Tarawa. Advances in forensic techniques led to the identification of PFC Gillen from among these remains.
Cemetery: Buried in Champaign

Source: National Archives, New Gazette, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency