Garth Baldwin was our guest speaker at our March meeting, and he related his efforts to excavate the remains of American Marines who had been killed during the invasion of Tarawa during the WW II Pacific Campaign. Mr. Baldwin had earned a Master’s Degree from Western Washington, and during his professional career as an archeologist, he has specialized in the recovery of skeletal remains. He estimates that during his career, he has located and recovered thousands of skeletons.
Mr. Baldwin described the difficulties he and the team of archeologists experienced on the atoll island of Tarawa. It was at Tarawa where the allies fought one on the first major offensives against the Japanese in the Pacific. The atoll is less than half the size of Central Park, but the Japanese had built an airfield, which was of strategic importance as a refueling location. During the three-day battle, over 1,700 Marines were killed and approximately 6,200 Japanese lost their lives defending the island. More than 500 Americans were buried in hastily built graves.
Mr. Baldwin was recruited for the Tarawa project by History Flight, a non-profit organization founded by Mark Noah. His visit to Tarawa, which is now the independent nation of Kiribati, was part of a follow up to a 2009 expedition that used ground penetrating radar to search for and located the “lost” Marine graves. During his stay at Tarawa, Mr. Baldwin assisted in locating several burial sites and recovered the remains of over 200 American and Japanese soldiers.