Ben Hadden Gore, age 20, from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Christian county.
Parents: Ruth Gore
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Thursday, November 25, 1943
Death details: On September 1, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced it has identified the remains of Private First Class Ben Hadden Gore, missing from World War II. Private First Class Gore, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Kentucky, was assigned to Special Weapons Group, 2nd Defense Battalion, Fleet Marine Force. He was injured sometime and died, likely from his wounds, on November 25, 1943, during his unit’s assault on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll. Although the exact circumstances surrounding his death are unknown, he was buried on Betio at the time. After the war, his remains could not be identified from among those recovered from the island. In 2015, the nongovernmental organization History Flight, Inc., discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of 35 U.S. service members who fought during the battle in November 1943; the remains were turned over to the DPAA laboratory in Hawaii, and analysts used modern forensic techniques that eventually identified Pfc Gore from among them.
Cemetery: Riverside Cemetery in Hopkinsville
Source: National Archives, findagrave.com, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency