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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 11, 2018)
Wednesday, April 11, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 19 Remains of Marine killed in WWII heading home to Oregon By Capi Lynn Statesman Journal SALEM (AP) — A case file, about an inch thick with a black cover, sits on a table in Marie Galloway’s living room, a grim reminder of her 17-year-old brother’s death during World War II. Inside are medical exam- iner, forensic and DNA reports, along with his- torical accounts of how he died, what happened to his remains, and how they were identified nearly 75 years later. The family now has answers, but only Marie is alive to get closure. She is the last surviving sib- ling of Marine Pfc. Lyle E. Charpilloz, whose remains are finally on their way home. Marie never thought it would happen. Her brother was killed Nov. 20, 1943, during the infamous Battle of Tarawa. He was buried on that tiny Pacific island, along with 1,000 or so other Marines and sailors who died during the three-day bloodbath. As a result of “bad record keep- ing, massive reconstruction on the island and poor mem- ories,” nearly half the casual- ties were never found. It’s all in the copy of the case file on Marie’s table. To be honest, she grew up believing her brother was blown up and there wasn’t anything left to find. Now the forensic reports tell her he died of gunshot wounds and that there’s even a metal fragment still lodged in his left collarbone. Advances in forensic sci- ence and scientific technol- ogy have made it possible for a team of anthropologists, dental experts and techni- cians from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to connect once-unidentifiable remains to missing service members like Lyle Charpilloz, bring- ing long-awaited closure to families. His flag-draped casket is scheduled to arrive Thursday at Portland International Airport aboard a Delta flight from Honolulu, Hawaii, escorted by a Marine Corps officer. Carol Houser, Marie’s daughter and Lyle’s niece, is scheduled to be there for the arrival and accompany Virgil T. Golden Funeral Service, which is handling local arrangements. Some of Lyle’s remains had been buried for decades with other Tarawa unknowns at the cemetery nicknamed the Punchbowl in Honolulu. Some were recovered on Tarawa in 2014 by History Flight, Inc., which has recov- ered more than 13,000 bones and fragments worldwide and helped identify more than 100 service members. A History Flight spokes- woman said the nonprofit played a role in three buri- als happening this week, including the one for Lyle Charpilloz, who will be interred near family at Belcrest Memorial Park in South Salem. Extended family members from Oregon, California and Washington are gathering Saturday to attend private church and graveside ser- vices in Salem. Most of them know only bits and pieces about the uncle who lied about his age to enlist in the Marines, was killed during World War II, and whose body was never identified — until now. Some family members, such as Lyle Taylor of Dallas, have a few photographs and mementos to remember him by. The photos were handed down to Taylor, who was named after his uncle. His father, who died in 2001, was Lyle Charpilloz’s brother and Marie’s twin. The twins’ last name was changed when they were young and their mother remarried. All Marie, now 87, has to remember of her brother Lyle is a photograph, a set of duplicate military med- als awarded posthumously to him, and faded childhood memories. They grew up on a farm near Silverton, where they raised sheep, and they attended a one-room school- house called Silver Cliff. Marie was the youngest of eight children, born about 5 minutes after twin brother, Robert. Most of their siblings were grown and on their own before World War II started, including one brother in the Army Air Corps. Kenneth Charpilloz was a pilot who flew cargo trans- ports during the war. He was in the air, on a supply mis- sion in North Africa, the day his brother died, according to his flight log book. Marie adored Lyle. He was four years older, but they were close. “We did a lot of things together,” she said from the living room of her Southeast Salem home. She still remembers the time they were working on a job for the local power com- pany, making utility poles out of trees from their farm. Lyle would trim the limbs off the trees, and the twins would stack the limbs. “He cut the end of his fin- ger off one time,” she said with a chuckle, “and we were hunting all over for it.” She can’t remember if it was his middle or index fin- ger, but she’s pretty sure it was on his left hand, and they eventually did find it. When Marie talks about Lyle, there’s a reverence in her tone. It sounds as if he was called upon to fill in as the man of the house at a young age. When their father was around, he didn’t treat their mother well. “Lyle would go to school and then come back to pro- tect my mom,” Marie said. “You looked at him as being a lot older than he was.” He was just 15 when he joined the Marines. “Everybody knew he was doing it,” said Marie, who was 11 at the time. Lyle lied about his age, like a lot of young men back then, and was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. His namesake nephew has a photograph of his pla- toon, the 111th. While all the young Marines look alike in their uniforms and stern poses, Lyle is believed to be the third one in from the left in the third row from the top. His personnel records describe him as blond with blue eyes and a ruddy Wild Bird Nesting Talk wi Elise Wolf at Sisters Feed Saturday, April 14 11 a.m. to Noon Habitat and nest box ideas for our Central Oregon birds! Learn how to create a backyard bird haven. Enjoy pictures & video! Specials on bird seed! Elise Wolf - Native Bird Care 541-728-8208 102 East st M Main ain A Ave. e 541-549-4151 complexion. At the time he enlisted, he was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighed 139 pounds, and had a tattoo on his left forearm. Marie said he didn’t have one when he left home. Lyle likely would have been a seasoned veteran by the time he landed on the beach at Tarawa. His divi- sion fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, the first major offensive and a decisive vic- tory for the U.S. in the Pacific theater. That campaign raged on for six months, from late 1942 to early 1943, and the Americans suffered major casualties. The Battle of Tarawa was over in a blink of an eye in comparison, lasting just 76 hours, yet it’s still considered one of the fiercest and blood- iest battles in Marine Corps history. Tarawa is an atoll in what was then known as the Gilbert Islands, and its stra- tegic location was of great military importance in the Pacific. The 2nd Marine Division was tasked with capturing the airfield on Betio, a small island reported to be less than 2 miles long and a half-mile wide at its widest, and heavily defended by a Japanese force of more than 4,800. Lyle’s company was among the first assault wave. Marines were delivered to the beach in amphibious trac- tors, and the landings weren’t always on target. Some of the men were let out far from shore, forced to wade through waist-deep water and over what has been described as razor-sharp coral. Many were cut down by enemy fire. Lyle was killed sometime on the first day of battle, Nov. 20, 1943. When it was all over, the U.S. military had notched a great vic- tory, but the cost was just as great. Approximately 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed and more than 2,000 wounded. The dead were moved to unit collection points for burial. Both identified and unknown remains were bur- ied in one of six temporary See MARINE on page 30 READY FOR TIRE CHANGEOVER? Deadline extended to April 15! Call and make your appointment now for no-wait service! DAVIS TIRE 541-549-1026 Serving Sisters Since 1962 188 W. Sisters Park Dr. In Sisters Industrial Park across from SnoCap Mini Storage
