On February 4, 2020, Marine Corps PFC Elden Richard Baumbach, 19, killed in World War II, was officially accounted for. He will soon be returned to his family and laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.
Born September 12, 1924, in Sacramento, California, Elden was the oldest of three sons blessed to the union of Fred and Rachel Dorothy (nee Lenhart) Baumbach.
On May 23, 1942, the 66-1/2", 162 lb, blue-eyed brunette walked into a San Francisco-area Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted.
Private First Class Baumbach was with his brothers in Delta Company, 1st Battalion of the 6th Marines (D-1/6) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 22, 1943 (D+2 of the "Battle of Tarawa"), when young Elden - just 19 years old - perished. He was reported to have been buried in Row D of the East Division Cemetery on Betio Island, later renamed Cemetery 33 - a temporary location until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Elden's parents accepted his awards and decorations, including:
- Purple Heart
- Combat Action Ribbon
- World War II Victory Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal
- Marine Corp Expeditionary Medal, and
- Gold Star Lapel Button.
Also left to mourn his passing were 2 younger brothers.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio, but PFC Baumbach's remains were not recovered. On November 10, 1949, a military review board declared Elden "non-recoverable".
On February 4, 2020, the DPAA officially identified PFC Baumbach, and his family soon received "The Call" from the Marines with the good news.
Elden will soon be returned to his family and laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors (209897154).
**Out of respect for PFC Baumbach's family, additional details are pending his brother's formal visit and official brief from the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section.**
Marine Corps Private First Class Baumbach is memorialized among the at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, PFC Baumbach's name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 2 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette shall be placed next to his name indicating that Elden has finally been found.
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 20-033 (April 16, 2020)
American Battle Monuments Commision
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Born September 12, 1924, in Sacramento, California, Elden was the oldest of three sons blessed to the union of Fred and Rachel Dorothy (nee Lenhart) Baumbach.
On May 23, 1942, the 66-1/2", 162 lb, blue-eyed brunette walked into a San Francisco-area Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted.
Private First Class Baumbach was with his brothers in Delta Company, 1st Battalion of the 6th Marines (D-1/6) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 22, 1943 (D+2 of the "Battle of Tarawa"), when young Elden - just 19 years old - perished. He was reported to have been buried in Row D of the East Division Cemetery on Betio Island, later renamed Cemetery 33 - a temporary location until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Elden's parents accepted his awards and decorations, including:
- Purple Heart
- Combat Action Ribbon
- World War II Victory Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal
- Marine Corp Expeditionary Medal, and
- Gold Star Lapel Button.
Also left to mourn his passing were 2 younger brothers.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio, but PFC Baumbach's remains were not recovered. On November 10, 1949, a military review board declared Elden "non-recoverable".
On February 4, 2020, the DPAA officially identified PFC Baumbach, and his family soon received "The Call" from the Marines with the good news.
Elden will soon be returned to his family and laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors (209897154).
**Out of respect for PFC Baumbach's family, additional details are pending his brother's formal visit and official brief from the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section.**
Marine Corps Private First Class Baumbach is memorialized among the at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, PFC Baumbach's name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 2 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette shall be placed next to his name indicating that Elden has finally been found.
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 20-033 (April 16, 2020)
American Battle Monuments Commision
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
On February 4, 2020, Marine Corps PFC Elden Richard Baumbach, 19, killed in World War II, was officially accounted for. He will soon be returned to his family and laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors.
Born September 12, 1924, in Sacramento, California, Elden was the oldest of three sons blessed to the union of Fred and Rachel Dorothy (nee Lenhart) Baumbach.
On May 23, 1942, the 66-1/2", 162 lb, blue-eyed brunette walked into a San Francisco-area Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted.
Private First Class Baumbach was with his brothers in Delta Company, 1st Battalion of the 6th Marines (D-1/6) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 22, 1943 (D+2 of the "Battle of Tarawa"), when young Elden - just 19 years old - perished. He was reported to have been buried in Row D of the East Division Cemetery on Betio Island, later renamed Cemetery 33 - a temporary location until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Elden's parents accepted his awards and decorations, including:
- Purple Heart
- Combat Action Ribbon
- World War II Victory Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal
- Marine Corp Expeditionary Medal, and
- Gold Star Lapel Button.
Also left to mourn his passing were 2 younger brothers.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio, but PFC Baumbach's remains were not recovered. On November 10, 1949, a military review board declared Elden "non-recoverable".
On February 4, 2020, the DPAA officially identified PFC Baumbach, and his family soon received "The Call" from the Marines with the good news.
Elden will soon be returned to his family and laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors (209897154).
**Out of respect for PFC Baumbach's family, additional details are pending his brother's formal visit and official brief from the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section.**
Marine Corps Private First Class Baumbach is memorialized among the at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, PFC Baumbach's name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 2 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette shall be placed next to his name indicating that Elden has finally been found.
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 20-033 (April 16, 2020)
American Battle Monuments Commision
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Born September 12, 1924, in Sacramento, California, Elden was the oldest of three sons blessed to the union of Fred and Rachel Dorothy (nee Lenhart) Baumbach.
On May 23, 1942, the 66-1/2", 162 lb, blue-eyed brunette walked into a San Francisco-area Marine Corps recruiting station and enlisted.
Private First Class Baumbach was with his brothers in Delta Company, 1st Battalion of the 6th Marines (D-1/6) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 22, 1943 (D+2 of the "Battle of Tarawa"), when young Elden - just 19 years old - perished. He was reported to have been buried in Row D of the East Division Cemetery on Betio Island, later renamed Cemetery 33 - a temporary location until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Elden's parents accepted his awards and decorations, including:
- Purple Heart
- Combat Action Ribbon
- World War II Victory Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation
- Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal
- Marine Corp Expeditionary Medal, and
- Gold Star Lapel Button.
Also left to mourn his passing were 2 younger brothers.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio, but PFC Baumbach's remains were not recovered. On November 10, 1949, a military review board declared Elden "non-recoverable".
On February 4, 2020, the DPAA officially identified PFC Baumbach, and his family soon received "The Call" from the Marines with the good news.
Elden will soon be returned to his family and laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors (209897154).
**Out of respect for PFC Baumbach's family, additional details are pending his brother's formal visit and official brief from the Marine Corps POW/MIA (Repatriation) Section.**
Marine Corps Private First Class Baumbach is memorialized among the at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. Although he has now been recovered and identified, PFC Baumbach's name shall remain permanently inscribed within Court 2 of the "Courts of the Missing". A rosette shall be placed next to his name indicating that Elden has finally been found.
SOURCE
DPAA Personnel Profile
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Release No: 20-033 (April 16, 2020)
American Battle Monuments Commision
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Inscription
BAUMBACH ELDEN R
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS • USMC • CALIFORNIA
Gravesite Details
Elden's rosette signifies that he has finally been found.
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