Matthews, Ernest Alberti Jr.
Marines Reserves 2nd lieutenant

Ernest Alberti Jr. Matthews, age 25, from Dallas, Texas, Dallas county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On June 30, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Second Lieutenant Ernest Alberti Matthews Jr., missing from World War II. Second Lieutenant Matthews, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Kansas, was a member of Headquarters Company, Headquarters Battalion, Division Special Troops, 2nd Marine Division. On November 20, 1943, 2ndLt Matthews was killed in combat against Japanese forces on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, during the Battle of Tarawa. 2ndLt Matthews’ remains were not recovered at the time. In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, many U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio, but 2nd Lt Matthews’ remains were not recovered at that time. In 2015, the nongovernmental organization History Flight, Inc., notified DPAA about a discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the Battle of Tarawa. In 2016, these remains were turned over to DPAA, and using modern forensic techniques, analysts identified 2nd Lt Matthews from among them.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency