Suffolk County Massachusetts

Vellucci, Angelo Michael
Marines Reserves Private 1st class

Angelo Michael Vellucci, age 19, from Boston, Massachusetts, Suffolk county.

Parents: Camilla Velucci

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: From November 20 through 23, 1943, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy conducted a large-scale amphibious assault on the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa as part of Operation Galvanic, the Allied capture of the Gilbert Islands. Located 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, Tarawa was a crucial stepping stone in the planned U.S. offensive across the central Pacific toward Japan. The Japanese garrison on Tarawa’s main island of Betio was well-entrenched with hundreds of bunkers and gun positions behind formidable beach obstacles. The first wave of Marines approaching the shore encountered lower-than-expected tides, forcing them to leave their landing craft on the reef and wade the hundreds of yards to the beach under intense enemy fire. The heaviest number of U.S. casualties were suffered during this phase of the landing. Eventually, rising tides allowed U.S. warships to maneuver closer to shore and support the troops with effective naval gunfire. More Marines landed on the second day, launching attacks inland from the beaches and seizing the Japanese airfield on the island. However, the enemy launched vicious counterattacks and two more days of intense fighting were needed to secure Betio. The last enemy strongpoints were taken on the morning of November 23. The fighting on Betio cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties but enabled U.S. forces to press further across the Pacific and yielded valuable tactical lessons that reduced U.S. losses in future amphibious landings. Private Angelo Michael Vellucci joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Massachusetts and was a member of Company A, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, which took part in the Battle of Tarawa. On November 20, 1943, he was killed in action on Tarawa and was buried in Cemetery #33, but his remains could not be recovered after the war and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Private Vellucci is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Griffin, John F.
Army Private 1st class

John F. Griffin from Massachusetts, Suffolk county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Thursday, August 13, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Private First Class John F. Griffin entered the U.S. Army from Massachusetts and served with the 17th Signal Platoon in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured on Corregidor Island following the American surrender on May 6, 1942, and died of dysentery on August 13, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Private First Class Griffin is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Godinho, Walter S.
Army Private

Walter S. Godinho from Massachusetts, Suffolk county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, July 18, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Private Walter S. Godinho entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Massachusetts and served in the 48th Materials Squadron in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of dysentery on July 18, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Private Godinho is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Carey, Francis
Navy Reserves Coxswain

Francis Carey from Boston, Massachusetts, Suffolk county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona. Remains not recovered.

Source: National Archives

Darch, Philip Zane
Navy Seaman 1st class

Philip Zane Darch from Boston, Massachusetts, Suffolk county.

Parents: Philip J. Darch

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed at Pearl Harbor

Source: National Archives, Boston Globe (1942)

Davis, John Q.
Marines Reserves Sergeant

John Q. Davis, age 20, from Boston, Massachusetts, Suffolk county.

Parents: Carl J. Davis

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Lattin, Bleecker
Navy Radioman 3rd class

Bleecker Lattin from Boston, Massachusetts, Suffolk county.

Parents: Ruth J. Lattin

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona. Remains not recovered.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Boston Globe (1944)

Hudlin, Maurice Woodrow
Navy Fireman first class

Maurice Woodrow Hudlin, age 25, from Suffolk County Revere, Massachusetts .

Parents: Wilbur Hudlin

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Friday, October 31, 1941
Death details: Died in the sinking of the destoryer USS Reuben James

Source: Los Angeles Times (1941), Daily Item (1941)

Fiske, Charles H.
Lieutenant

Charles H. Fiske from Boston, Massachusetts, Suffolk county.

Parents: Charles Henry Fiske Jr. and Mary Thorndike Fiske

Service era: World War I
Schools: Noble and Greenough and Country Day School, Trinity College in Cambridge, England, Harvard Univeristy (1910)

Date of death: Unknown
Death details: Died of wounds
Cemetery: Suresnes American

Source: American Battle Monuments Commission, findagrave.com

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