The remains of a former Laredo resident killed in action during World War Two were identified at the Department of Defense laboratory in Hawaii recently.
Marine Corps Pfc. Donald R. Tolson, killed during the battle of Tarawa in World War II, has now been accounted for.
In November 1943, Tolson was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 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. Tolson was killed sometime on the first day of battle, November. 20, 1943.
Tolson’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at an American Battle Monuments Commission site along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Tolson’s first cousins Judy Klinginsmith of Chillicothe and Zella Whitney of Trenton are working with representatives from the Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action recovery team to arrange to bring his remains home for burial in Kansas City, Missouri.
