POWMIA.INFO

Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Joe Lukie, killed during World War II, has now been accounted for.

In November 1943, Lukie was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 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. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Lukie died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Interment services are pending; more information will be released 7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.

Lukie's name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

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