Tarawa Talk

My uncle, Fox 2/8 always called it tah-RAH-wah.

My Uncle Charles Sikkema, Fox Co. 2/8 was wounded the 6th day on Saipan when the "surrendering' Japanese in a cave, decided to blow themselves and as many Marines as possible, up.

***   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    ***

November 20, 2024

Department of Defense Confirms Identification of Tarawa MIA Whose Case was Investigated by the Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation

Eighty-one years ago today, Marine Sergeant Robert Fred Van Heck from Chicago, Illinois was a crew member of an amphibious tractor landing on Tarawa’s Red Beach 1.  His craft was designated “Number 13”, which he and another crew member, Corporal Claire Goldtrap, dubbed “Wrabbit Twacks” after a popular 1940’s Bugs Bunny cartoon.  They also painted “1/2” after Number 13 to ward off any bad luck. During the first wave on 20 November 1943, “Wrabbit Twacks” was bracketed by Japanese mortar fire and both were killed instantly.   CPL Goldtrap and SGT Van Heck were reportedly buried in Cemetery 11 on Tarawa but after the war neither body could be identified.

While at the Department of Defense in 2011/2012, retired Police Chief Rick Stone prepared investigative reports on all of Tarawa’s MIAs using the Random Incident Statistical Correlation (RISC) System, which he had created as a member of the Dallas Police Department.  Chief Stone discovered that both CPL Goldtrap and SGT Van Heck were “Most Likely Matches” to “Unknowns” buried in Honolulu, Hawaii.  In 2017, six years after Chief Stone recommended the Tarawa Unknowns be exhumed and identified, the Department of Defense (DoD) began disinterring the "Unknowns” from Tarawa. The Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation continued to investigate both CPL Goldtrap’s and SGT Van Heck cases.  The analysis indicated CPL Goldtrap was “Unknown X-277” and SGT Van Heck was “Unknown X-265.”

On 1 June 2018, the DoD officially announced CPL Goldtrap’s identification as Unknown X-277.  Confirmation of SGT Van Heck’s identification as Unknown X-265 from DoD was received today on the 81st anniversary of his loss.  SGT Van Heck finally arrived home to Chicago for his hometown burial last month, almost thirteen years after Chief Stone’s original investigative report on his case.

Chief Stone stated: “The crew of Wrabbit Twacks is finally re-united again on American soil after over eight decades of separation from their family and friends.  A special thanks to retired Marine SGT Ed Gazel, who recently passed away at age 100 but not before he gave us the clue to finding “Goldy” Goldtrap.  Credit also the persistence of our Foundation team who used the same clue to also find SGT Van Heck.”

The Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation is a non-profit, 501 c 3, private foundation located in Glen Rose, Texas.  For more information on this case or the Foundation’s activities, visit the website at www.ChiefRickStone.com

Thanks goes out to all who worked on this case, including the staff at the National Archives and the FOIA analysts in the Office of the Secretary of Defense who helped acquire research documents for the investigation.  And, of course, all who provided financial support for our Foundation’s activities.

The Foundation investigations referenced in this release were not accomplished in partnership with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
 
If you are interested in assisting the Foundation’s mission to help bring home our missing American heroes, please go to our web site’s “Make A Difference” link at:
www.chiefrickstone.com/?page_id=123644

NOTE TO MEDIA: For more information, please contact the public affairs volunteer of the Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation via email to Foundation@ChiefRickStone.com

November 5, 2024


Marine Corporal Louis James Hauge Jr. was a 20-year-old from Ada, Minnesota when he found himself on a ridge overlooking Wana, Okinawa as a member of C Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines on 14 May 1945.  His posthumous Medal of Honor citation describes his actions on that day:

Alert and aggressive during a determined assault against a strongly fortified Japanese hill position, Cpl. Hauge boldly took the initiative when his company's left flank was pinned down under a heavy machine-gun and mortar barrage with resultant severe casualties and, quickly locating the two machine guns which were delivering the uninterrupted stream of enfilade fire, ordered his squad to maintain a covering barrage as he rushed across an exposed area toward the furiously blazing enemy weapons. Although painfully wounded as he charged the first machine gun, he launched a vigorous singlehanded grenade attack, destroyed the entire hostile gun position, and moved relentlessly forward toward the other emplacement despite his wounds and the increasingly heavy Japanese fire. Undaunted by the savage opposition, he again hurled his deadly grenades with unerring aim and succeeded in demolishing the second enemy gun before he fell under the slashing fury of Japanese sniper fire. By his ready grasp of the critical situation and his heroic one-man assault tactics, Cpl. Hauge had eliminated two strategically placed enemy weapons, thereby releasing the besieged troops from an overwhelming volume of hostile fire and enabling his company to advance. His indomitable fighting spirit and decisive valor in the face of almost certain death reflect the highest credit upon Cpl. Hauge and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.”

After the battle, CPL Hauge’s body could not be identified and he was declared “Missing in Action.” The Battle of Okinawa produced almost 50,000 American casualties. There were only 24 Medal of Honor recipients from the battle.  Corporal Louis James Hauge Jr. remains the only Medal of Honor recipient missing from the Battle of Okinawa.
 
In September and October 2023, family members of CPL Hauge contacted the Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation requesting an investigation of his case using the Random Incident Statistical Correlation (RISC) System, which retired Police Chief Rick Stone had created as a member of the Dallas Police Department.

During the Foundation’s investigation, investigators used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain documents and also purchased copies of historical files from the National Archives which indicated that the body of CPL Hauge had been recovered long after his death and buried as an “Unknown” in an American military cemetery.  The investigation identified the “Unknown” believed to be CPL Hauge “beyond a reasonable doubt” and located the specific Plot, Row, and Grave number of CPL Hauge’s interment as an “Unknown” in 1950. 

The Foundation has repeatedly offered to work with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in the recovery and identification of CPL Hauge.  To date, DPAA has not indicated an agreement to work with the Foundation on bringing CPL Hauge home.

Chief Stone stated: “It is inconceivable to me that an American governmental agency would not do everything possible to bring home one of this country’s most heroic of all missing American servicemen…a recipient of the Medal of Honor who was left behind on the field of battle and later buried as an “Unknown.”  CPL Hauge has been waiting over eighty years for his name to be restored and returned home to his family.” 

The Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation is a non-profit, 501 c 3, private foundation located in Glen Rose, Texas.  For more information on this case or the Foundation’s activities, visit the website at www.ChiefRickStone.com

A special thanks goes out to all who worked on this case, acquired research documents for the investigation, or provided financial support for our Foundation’s activities.

I'm pretty sure that was the sand-covered Fire Control Center for the two twin 127mm guns on Black Beach One. Either that or one of the two ammunition bunkers for the guns. All three were concrete bunkers covered with sand, and it appears in your photo that remnants of concrete walls are present.