Marine Corps Cpl. Thomas H. Cooper, 22, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, killed during World War II, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, March 10, 2022. Cooper’s daughter, Virginia Frogel, was in attendance with her husband and other family. In November 1943, Cooper was a member of Company A, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Cooper died on the first day of the bat
Marine Corps Cpl. Thomas H. Cooper, 22, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, killed during World War II, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, March 10, 2022. Cooper’s daughter, Virginia Frogel, was in attendance with her husband and other family. In November 1943, Cooper was a member of Company A, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Cooper died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943. He was reportedly buried on Betio Island. In March 1980, the Central Identification Laboratory - Hawaii, a predecessor to DPAA, sent officials to Betio Island to receive skeletal remains that had been recovered during a construction project. Of the three sets recovered, two were identified. The third was declared unidentifiable and was subsequently buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In 2016, DPAA disinterred the remains of 94 Tarawa Unknowns from the NMCP for identification. To read the full release on Cooper’s accounting, go to:
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Keywords: accounting, agency, anc, arlington, defense, dpaa, marines, pow/mia, tarawa, wwii
