Monday, January 6, 2020

Humboldt Native Conducts Chaplain Services for WWII U.S. Marine

By John Sheppard, Naval Station Great Lakes Public Affairs

DANVILLE, Ill. (Dec. 17, 2019) -- For nearly 76 years, Marine Corps Reserve Private First Class Jack Van Zandt was mourned by his little sister, Lois, who wanted nothing more than to have his remains brought home to Danville, Illinois, to rest beside his family. Van Zandt gave his life in combat during the Battle of Tarawa during World War II and was buried there, but his grave was lost until recently.
Naval Station Great Lakes Chaplain Lt. Mark Thompson, left,
stands at attention while Marines from Company B, 1st Battalion,
24th Marines out of Terre Haute, Ind. carry the casket of Marine
Reserve Pfc. Jack Van Zandt out of the Sunset Funeral Home in
Danville, Ill. on Dec. 17.
On Dec. 17, Van Zandt finally came home. His sister Lois Van Zandt Wright died on Oct. 4 this year, only two days after the family found out that Van Zandt was coming home.

“I’d like to thank all of the Marines who came today and all the veterans,” said Wright’s daughter Nancy Linde of Danville during the chapel service at Sunset Funeral Home in Danville.

“It’s a great privilege for me personally to be here today," said Naval Station Great Lakes Command Chaplain Lt. Mark Thompson, a native of Humboldt, Tennessee, who officiated at the chapel service. "This is the second repatriation that I’ve been honored to do. It’s great that we’re here to honor Jack and reflect on his short life and time with the Marines.”

According to a release by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), “In November 1943, Van Zandt was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, 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, while the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Van Zandt was killed on the third day of the battle, Nov. 22, 1943. His remains were reportedly buried in East Division Cemetery on Betio Island.”

Van Zandt was only 22 when he died. When he enlisted, he needed his parents’ permission.

Van Zandt fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, a military campaign that took place between Aug. 7, 1942 and Feb. 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands north of Australia. The battle, mainly fought by Marines on the ground and the U.S. Navy at sea, was a turning point in the war in the Pacific. After Guadalcanal, the United States and her allies went on the offensive against Imperial Japan.

After Guadalcanal, Van Zandt took extended leave in New Zealand and Australia before returning to combat on Tarawa. He died helping take a half-mile plot of land needed for an airstrip.

According to the DPAA, there are 72,641 service members still unaccounted for from World War II with approximately 30,000 assessed as possibly recoverable.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find them on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

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