Penna, Frank Francis
Marines Reserves Private
Frank Francis Penna, age 24, from Canastota, New York, Madison county.
Parents: Michael Penna
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On April 5, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private Frank Francis Penna, missing from World War II. Private Penna, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from New York, was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. In November 1943, his unit took part in the U.S. effort take control of the Japanese-held Tarawa Attol, Gilbert Island. Private Penna was with fellow members of Company E took part in the large-scale amphibious assault on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll, known as the Battle of Tarawa. The men met stiff Japanese resistance and Private Penna died sometime on the first day of battle on November 20, 1943. The exact circumstances surrounding the burial of his remains were unrecorded, and he was not identified among remains recovered from the island after the war. In 2015, the nongovernmental organization History Flight, Inc., notified DPAA that they discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the Battle of Tarawa. Lab analysis in conjunction with circumstantial evidence available eventually identified Private Penn from among these collective remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency