Lost for Decades, a Marine World War II Hero Finally Comes Home
19 Apr 2021
The Los Angeles Times | By Gustavo Arellano
LOS ANGELES -- The word came in the morning, as Grace Cruz and her children gathered at the family home in Boyle Heights on Christmas Eve, 1943.
Her oldest son, Jacob, was dead.
A telegram from the United States Marines said the 18-year-old private was killed in action but divulged little else. The ongoing Pacific campaign meant Jacob would be buried in a temporary grave in the Tarawa Atoll, where he and more than 1,000 other Marines and sailors died fighting the Imperial Japanese Army.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/04/19/lost-decades-marine-world-war-ii-hero-finally-comes-home.html