ABC 13 News Reporter:
Initially listed as one of the 70,000 still missing, the Pentagon announced that A World War II
Marine from Galveston has been identified 77 years after his death. Justin G. Mills killed in
November of 1943 during a battle on a small island in the South Pacific...
Host: J.R.
Memorial Day is a moment to honor those who gave everything in service to this country. We
raise flags, gather in silence, and in prayer. For some who fell in battle, remembrance has long
come without a grave. In the fog and chaos of war, many fallen soldiers never made it back to
US soil. Their remains lost or unidentified for years. Today's story spans over three-quarters of a
century and over 7,000 miles. We honor the memory of Marine Corps Reserve First Lieutenant
Justin Green Mills, a proud Marine from Galveston, Texas. A courageous leader who gave his
life in service to his country during the Battle of Tarawa in World War II.
From the shores of the Gulf Coast to the fierce battles of the Pacific Theater, Mills embodied the
courage and sacrifice that Memorial Day asks us to remember. His story is not just about war,
it's about the relentless dedication to bring thousands of our fallen soldiers home, even decades
after they gave everything for our country, and giving our soldiers the resting place they
deserve.
We'll start this story here in Texas. Justin Mills was born in Houston on December 12th, 1917.
Though Mills wasn't born on the island, he got here as fast as his family could, and his father
began working at the Port, and by 1931, Justin was attending Ball High School, athletic,
outgoing, excelling in marksmanship, swimming, and football.
After graduating Ball High, he joined the Galveston Wharf Company. When he wasn't working,
he was honing his skills on the Gridiron, playing for the Galveston Hurricanes, an amateur
football league. In 1937, he enlisted in the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve and quickly rose to the
rank of Sergeant. Like a true Texan, he was recognized for his shooting skills, and he competed
with the Marine Corps rifle and pistol team in 1940. By the outbreak of World War II, he had
earned a commission as a second lieutenant. His unit was activated, and Mills left civilian life
and joined the Second Marine Brigade by the end of 1940. He made his way to the South
Pacific Theater to fight the Empire of Japan.
As a newly commissioned second lieutenant, Lieutenant Mills was deployed as a platoon leader
with Charlie Company, First Battalion, Second Marines, and he quickly earned a reputation for
fearless, aggressive leadership.
In August 1942, Mills led an amphibious landing on Florida Island in the Solomons. When the
driver of the boat hesitated to approach the shore, Mills threatened him at gunpoint to push
forward, which truly defined His 'no guts, no glory' leadership style.
Following the nearly unopposed Florida Island operation, Mills and his men took part in the
assault on Tulagi on August 8th, 1942. They then remained on Tulagi for the next two months
performing garrison duty. While the intense battle for the nearby Guadalcanal on the Solomon
Islands raged on, their duty was occasionally interrupted by enemy raids and shelling.
By October of 1942, Lieutenant Justin Mills and his battalion conducted a raid on a Japanese
position at Guadalcanal. This mission began with a tragedy when a boat capsized. Drowning
over a dozen Marines. Despite this, Mills and the rest of the company C pushed on. Mills helped
execute a successful dawn ambush, killing 30 Japanese soldiers. When his platoon
encountered vigorous opposition, he courageously pushed forward in the face of machine gun
mortar and point-blank 37 millimeter gunfire. Although his platoon suffered heavy casualties, he
succeeded in capturing and holding his objective. Frustratingly, the Marines were soon ordered
to withdraw from the ground they'd taken.
By late October, Mills Battalion was permanently deployed to Guadalcanal. The silver star is the
US military's third-highest decoration of valor in combat, awarded to those who demonstrate
extraordinary heroism in the face of enemy forces; it recognizes courageous actions that go
beyond the call of duty and embody the highest ideal of service and sacrifice.
With that in mind, here is the official citation honoring Lieutenant Justin G. Mills. "The president
of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second
Lieutenant Justin G. Mills, United States Marine Corps Reserve, for conspicuous gallantry and
intrepidity during actions against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands area on
November 3rd, 1942."
Due to his relentless valor on Guadalcanal, Mills was promoted to First Lieutenant in early 1943
and continued conducting combat patrols and manning defensive positions through the end of
January and by February, 1943, Justin Mills and his fellow Marines left Guadalcanal for New
Zealand, where they spent the next nine months recovering training and enjoying liberty in
Wellington. Like many others, Mills appreciated the hospitality and bravery of the New
Zealanders, praising them publicly as true allies.
Meanwhile, back at home in the United States, Lieutenant Justin Mills was writing letters back
home, and a few of these letters were even published in newspapers around the country,
praising the allies. He was fighting alongside in the Pacific.
In one letter he wrote back in 1943, he states, " I've been associated with men and women of
our Allied nations, British, Australian, Dutch, New Zealand, Chinese, and they are strong, gentle
Christian people., And in my biased opinion, it is necessary to not only our future welfare but to
the piece of the world to continue to think of these people as friends and allies, they give as
freely and die as galliantly as any American."
He then goes on to describe a few of the black soldiers fighting in the Pacific, stating " our
colored citizens too out here are American citizens in every sense of the word, enduring,
sharing, and dying heroically. They deserve a better break than they are getting. America can
never be the 'land of the free' until we are one race in our rights and freedom.
And just a reminder, this was published in the newspaper, his entire letter. Before he signs off,
he says, "Say hello to Mr. Sealy, Mr. Parker, Mr. Johnson. Mr. Morris, Mr. Piperi, Mr. Webster,
Charlie Malia, Dave Sweeney, Mr. Stein, Dutch O'Reagan, and all of the gang I know. God bless
you all. -First Lieutenant Justin G. Mills"
Galvestonians, were proud of Lieutenant Justin Mills, a 1943 article in the Galveston Daily News
states "Although he was born in Houston December 12th, 1917, Lieutenant Mills was reared
here and was graduated from Ball High School in 1935, joined the 15th Battalion Fleet Marine
Corps Reserves organized here by Colonel Clark Thompson in 1937 and left his job with the
Galveston Wharf Company in November, 1940 when the unit was mustered into naval service".
The article goes on, "a crack shot. He has won several marksmanship medals. He is also noted
as an expert swimmer and played football with the Hurricanes."
By the fall of 1943, officer Reshuffling and promotions brought Mills a new role. He was
promoted to executive officer of Company C, serving under fellow Texan Captain James R.
Clanahan of Amarillo, on October 17th, 1943. First Lieutenant Justin Mills and Captain James
R. Clanahan led Charlie Company aboard the USS Harry Lee (APA-10) to prepare for their next
mission.
For over a month, they rehearsed amphibious landings and endured tense anticipation at sea.
While spending weeks waiting and training at sea, Justin Mills earned a new nickname, one of
his buddies aboard the Harry Lee remembered him as "a loud-talking Texan, bellicose, but with
a saving quick grin, he considered himself a tough fighting marine. After the war, he expressed
interest in staying in the service and becoming a professional soldier.” His buddies gave him the
nickname "Tex". Like a true Galvestonian, he was a fighter and fit perfectly in the United States
Marine Corps reserves.
In late November 1943, over 3000 miles from mainland Japan. Over 4,800 miles from the west
coast of the United States, the Harry Lee arrived in the transport area off Betio Island in the
Tarawa Atoll.
Mills stood out for his bold personality, but he also understood the risks ahead, warning that
many wouldn't return from battle. Despite a heavy naval bombardment, Mills correctly predicted
it wouldn't neutralize the Japanese defenses.
In the next reserve wave, Charlie Company couldn't land until noon due to limited transport and
heavy enemy fire. When they finally came ashore, chaos followed; only 70 of nearly 200
Marines regrouped with minimal weaponry.
During the landing at just 25 years old, Lieutenant Justin Mills was killed by a gunshot to the
head.
He was one of five Charlie Company Marines to die that day. The other four soldiers that were
killed were Corporal Oscar H. Cole, Jr. FM First Class Roy E. Keele, and PFCs or Private First
Class Marion E. Breithaupt and Norman A. Buan. Over several days of intense fighting at
Tarawa, approximately a thousand Marines and sailors were killed, and more than 2000 were
wounded. While the Japanese on the Tarawa Atoll were virtually annihilated
Of the 16 million Americans who served during World War II, More than 400,000 died in combat.
KIA means killed in action. Those confirmed dead on the battlefield. MIA stands for missing in
action. Soldiers whose whereabouts remain unknown after battle. Their families only receiving
letters expressing that their loved ones were missing or killed in action, with little information and
no remains returned. No closure, only hope that one day they might return home.
After the Battle of Tarawa, Marines and Navy Corpsmen were buried in hastily made cemeteries
near the front lines. First Lieutenant Justin Mills and three others from Charlie Company were
laid to rest in the Central Division Cemetery, later called Cemetery 26, marked only by simple
wooden sticks. As months passed after the battle, Betio Island was transformed into a
permanent US air base.
In 1944, in an effort to improve the appearance of the battlefield, Navy personnel launched a
well-intentioned but ultimately damaging effort to beautify the many temporary burial sites
across the island, unintentionally destroying original grave markers and misaligning burial rows.
The original grave markers were removed, and the precise locations and orientations of many
individual burials were mixed up and lost.
And after World War II in 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company arrived
to exhume the bodies. They found disorganized remains, making identification difficult. Keele
and Briethaupt were identified, but Mills and Buan were not. Their families were told in 1949 that
their remains were unrecoverable.
Over seven decades later, a nonprofit organization called History Flight, which used
sophisticated DNA technology, changed that. This remarkable discovery was made possible
through a collaboration between the Defense P-O-W-M-I-A, accounting agency, also known as
DPAA, and History Flight.
Founded in 2003, History Flight is dedicated to locating and recovering the remains of missing
American Service members through a mix of forensic archeology, ground penetrating radar,
historical research, and DNA analysis, their work has been especially impactful on Betio Island
where they uncovered lost cemeteries and recovered hundreds of soldiers once thought lost
forever, including Lieutenant Justin G. Mills.
In 2014, the History Flight nonprofit group excavated Cemetery 26 and found many remains left
behind. In 2015, they turned them over to the Defense P-O-W-M-I-A accounting agency. Among
the remains, exhumed was first Lieutenant Mills. His identification was confirmed in 2019
through anthropological analysis and mitochondrial DNA testing.
For decades, Mills was one of the thousands lost to the fog of war. His resting place unknown.
His family left without closure. Today, Mills is no longer listed among the missing. on May 26th,
2021. Nearly 78 years after his death, Mills was laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington
National Cemetery in Virginia.
In recognition of his bravery and sacrifice, his family received his military honors, including a
Silver Star, a Purple Heart, a Combat Action Ribbon, Marine Corps Presidential Unit citation,
Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, an Asiatic Pacific Campaign medal, an American campaign
medal, a World War II Victory Medal, and a gold star lapel button.
Every Memorial Day, we honor the brave souls who gave everything for this country. Men and
women like Lieutenant Justin Green Mills. Mills story is just one of thousands As of 2020, there
were still 72,639 service members still unaccounted for just from World War II and with this new
effort and technology, approximately 30,000 have been assessed as possibly recoverable
thanks to the tireless work of the DPAA, the dedication of nonprofits like History Flight, and the
unyielding commitment of the US military. Over the past few years, their efforts have resulted in
soldiers and battlefields around the world to be properly identified and brought back home.
Stories like these, sacrifices of soldiers and names of those lost in battle are being brought back
from the shadows, reminding us all why we remember. This Memorial Day, as we raise our flags
and bow our heads, let us honor their courage by never letting their legacy fade by continuing
the promise to bring every soldier home.
