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RETURN TO TARAWA

A Documentary Narrating the Return Of Leon Cooper, A Veteran of the Battle of “Bloody Tarawa,” a Pacific War Battle Fought in November, 1943. Leon Returned to Tarawa in February, 2008 In Order To Learn More About Reports He Had Read About Garbage On “Red Beach.”

It Was On That Beach That Leon, A US Navy Landing Craft Officer, Had Landed Marines In the First Major Amphibious Assault On A Central Pacific Japanese Stronghold. Where Leon Saw Thousands of His Countrymen Fall Dead or Wounded On Red Beach From Murderous Japanese Gunfire in 1943…

Garbage Now And For Years Has Littered This Hallowed Ground. He Is Resolved To Make Sure That Red Beach is Cleaned Up Permanently Along With A Garbage Control Program For the Rest of Tarawa.

Steve Barber, Producer, and Matthew Hausle, Camera Man/Editor, Accompanied Him. The Film of His “Return” Will Be Available Later In 2008.

SHAME OF OUR NATION.

n Garbage is piled high on the entire, miles-long, stretch of Red Beach...It keeps getting higher with the passing of time;

n Skeletal remains--in plain sight or just below the surface-- of American and Japanese dead are everywhere on Betio, the island where the principal fighting took place in Tarawa.

n I met an Aussie resident of Tarawa whose specialty is gathering war relics on Betio, including unexploded ordnance. During his years on Tarawa, in his search for relics, he has personally dug up human bones on Betio or has had Tarawa citizens do this for him.

n Tarawa citizens have built shacks, lean-to’s and other

dwellings all along Red Beach.

n There are 100,000 plus citizens crowded together on the string of tiny islands that constitute the Tarawa archipelago. According to one report, Tarawa’s population density exceeds that of Hong Kong. This density is most evident on Betio, where seemingly every square foot along the beaches is occupied by some type of structure. No doubt, the remains of many of the 6,000 + Americans and Japanese who died during those three days of savagery lie under these structures.

n Citizens living along Red Beach routinely use the lagoon as a bathroom. This is the lagoon traversed by U.S. LVTs and Higgins Boats during the invasion. Photographs taken after the battle show corpses of US Marines floating in the same lagoon.

n Early in 1946, the US Army Quartermaster Corps sent a group of specialists, including several experts in dentistry, to Tarawa. Their mission: to identify the remains of several hundred US Marines found at several burial sites on Betio. According to their report, “only about 58% were identified.”

n Ordnance relics of the battle can be seen virtually everywhere on Betio. Australia has sent a contingent of divers to scour the lagoon and other nearby sites in order to recover, and then to dispose of, live ammunition. I asked, but was told there were no reports of death or injury to the citizenry who had chanced to contact or handle ordnance. Given the natural curiosity of children—and there are many--about “toys” it seems obvious that there have been some, if not a significant number of deaths or injuries, even though not reported.

n I saw firsthand the active/involved presence of representatives of the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Japan (the causeway built by Japan that connects Betio to other islands is called the “Nippon Causeway.”) These dedicated representatives, for years, have been helping the Kiribati governments in matters dealing with the environment, health and disease control, sanitation, nutrition, education, bomb disposal, etc. The United States’ sole presence is the Peace Corps’ Regional Director and his relatively few staff members.

n And then, there’s

REMEMBERING PRIVATE SOMES.

I met Louie, “The biggest man on Tarawa,” a 6’7” tall Aussie. Some years ago a Tarawa citizen had told Louie that he had found the complete skeleton of a US Marine. The Marine, while dying, had fallen into a deep hole below the water level, hence preserving his full skeletal remains. His remains were found, along with his boots, watch and helmet liner. The name, “Somes, Pfc” was stenciled on the liner.

Louie gathered up Somes’ bones from the citizen, putting them in a cloth bag, then taking them back to his office. He kept Somes’ remains for some time, while trying to find out from inquiries in the US what he should do about Somes’ bones. (I’m not sure who he wrote to).

Louie was told emphatically that Somes was buried in a cemetery in his hometown, in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The bones that Louie had, he was assured, could not have been those of Somes.

What to do about Arthur Somes?

There’s a beautiful monument to the “Coastwatchers” of Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain near Red Beach. It was on that location that fifteen Coastwatchers had been beheaded by the Japanese invaders of Tarawa. The monument marks the site of the beheadings.

Louie marked an “X” on a restaurant napkin for me, indicating where he had buried Somes, just six feet from the monument.

I visited Soames’ burial site afterwards. He lies in an unmarked grave. It was difficult for me to keep from sobbing as I stood over his grave.

Others besides Louie remember Somes. Every year, on “Anzac Day,” the Australian/New Zealanders include a prayer about Somes.

CONCLUSION

Attached is my memo, “An Action Program for Tarawa,” a memo I had prepared before my visit to Kiribati to guide me in gathering the information I needed. I gave copies to the President of Kiribati and his key Ministers during my meetings with each. I was greeted warmly by these officials and by many others in that country.

Thanks to the help I received from the US Fiji Ambassador, Larry Dinger and his Deputy Chief of Mission, Ted Mann, all of these meetings were productive. Mr. Mann accompanied me during my almost week-long stay in Kiribati. I continue to marvel at his patience and forbearance in “putting up” with me, someone who was determined to make every moment in Tarawa count in order to achieve his goal.

I will soon submit a request for funding to my representatives in Congress, along with a detailed budget showing how the funds will be spent.

Leon Cooper

29706 Baden Pl

Malibu, CA 90265

310-457-2832

leoncooper@verizon.net

www.warinpacific.net

ARMED FORCES AND MEMORIAL DAY STORY
World War II Veteran Wants Government
to Find and Repatriate
Thousands of World War II Veterans

Malibu, CA, May 13, 2009 – Leon Cooper, WWII veteran, author and subject of the Military Channel’s recent documentary, Return to Tarawa: The Leon Cooper Story, is asking the U.S. Government to give long overdue attention to our country’s fallen war heroes, who were forgotten and ignored by our nation, sixty-five years ago, in the battle of “Bloody Tarawa” during World War II.

The remains of hundreds of Americans still lie in Betio, the tiny South Pacific island in Tarawa where the battle was fought. Their relatives know only that these dead who gave their lives in defense of America’s freedom, are classified as “MIA”.

The Military Channel documentary “Return To Tarawa: The Leon Cooper Story” has served to expose this shameful chapter of America’s history, causing the question to be raised: “How many more Tarawas are there?”

The answer:
There are 45,120 World War II dead in the Pacific Theatre, a tally as of September 6, 2006, according to the Department of Defense. The Pacific War MIAs account for more than 55% of all of the 73,291 MIAs of WWII.

These shocking numbers stem from the Defense Department’s policy: “Most recent wars first.” In other words, the Department gives top priority to the recovery and repatriation of the dead from the current Iraq and Afghanistan wars. All of our nation’s wars prior to Viet Nam are classified by the Department as “Ancient Wars,” thereby putting WWII veterans in the same group, for example, as the Greek warriors of the BC era who fought in the Pelopponesian War.

“It is particularly contemptuous to treat WWII MIAs as if they were fossilized remains. The Defense Department’s recovery rate of 0.2% per year of WWII MIA “returns” simply emphasizes the Department’s contempt,” states Cooper. One study has estimated that, at the Department’s recovery rate, it will take more than 300 years to recover all of the Pacific War MIAs that are “recoverable.” He goes on to say, “Will the thousands of Americans who still lie where they fell in Papua New Guinea, in the Solomons, in the Philippines, in the Marianas, and in the many minor land skirmishes ever be returned to their homes?”

William Gladstone, Britain’s 19^th century Prime Minister said, “One can judge the conscience of a nation by the recognition it gives to those who died for it.”

What is the state of our country’s conscience?

Mr. Cooper is available for interview. Copies of his books, “90 Day Wonder – Darkness Remembered,” and “The War in the Pacific – A Retrospective”, are also available upon request. For further information visit his Web sites at: http://www.returntotarawa.net/, or http://www.90daywonder.net/, or http://www.warinpacific.net/, or his blogs: http://www.90daywonder.org;/ or http://www.asmatteringofignorance.info/. The DVD of his documentary “Return to Tarawa-the Leon Cooper Story” is also available.

ARMED FORCES AND MEMORIAL DAY STORY
"Remember Me" ... Battle Cry from Wounded Marine
Touches World War II Veteran's Inspiring Documentary

Malibu, CA, May 11, 2009 – World War II veteran and author Leon Cooper, and filmmaker Steven Barber, were recent guests on Fox News, discussing their new documentary, “Return to Tarawa : The Leon Cooper Story”. Narrated by Ed Harris, Cooper travels back to Red Beach in Tarawa, hallowed ground where over 3,000 US marines were killed or wounded in one of the bloodiest battles in U.S. history. Go to the Fox Web site at:
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=4566048&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/livedesk/

Return to Tarawa The film tells of Cooper’s mission to urge our government to locate and repatriate the remains of the hundreds of Americans who still lie in Tarawa, even now sixty-five years after the battle, and to take other action to honor those who fought and died in defense of our country’s freedom.

During the newscast, Cooper recounts a poignant exchange between himself and a young wounded Marine he had been taking back to Cooper’s ship, along with other wounded, for medical treatment. Hearing the Marine’s moans in pain, Cooper gave him a morphine shot to stop his pain. The morphine evidently worked. Shortly afterwards, the Marine motioned to Cooper with his eyes. Cooper crawled over the deck boards of the boat to the Marine, who was trying to say something. “What did you say?” I asked. “I asked him again, as I put my ears against his lips, and then he said ‘remember me’, and shortly after that he died….Or, maybe he didn’t actually say those words…maybe I wanted to believe he said it…either way, I feel I have an obligation to honor the memory not only of that kid in my boat, but of all the others who died during those three days of savagery.” Cooper said.

A few days after the broadcast he received a touching letter from a viewer who had seen the TV interview. In his letter to Cooper, he told of a Captain Orlando Palopoli who was born in Marlboro, New York in 1918, who had been mortally wounded in Tarawa. The viewer said that Palopoli had been shot in the abdomen and would die from his wounds. According to the viewer, Palopoli was transported back to a Navy ship by landing craft for medical treatment. The viewer added that Capt. Palopoli had written a poem in September 1943 that was published in their local newspaper. It was entitled, “Remember Me.” The viewer never actually knew Palopoli, but mentioned that many of the veterans in Marlboro, including his late father, used him as a role model. Every Memorial Day since he was thirteen, the viewer has read Capt. Palopoli’s poem for himself, his father, and for his country, and most of all – to remember him.

The following is a copy of the poem Remember Me:

“Remember me, beyond this lurid day
Of hate and laughter brimming deep in tears
Remember me beyond this narrow way
Of darkness, pressing darkness and of fears
The clinging mire wrapt so close to earth
One day will vanish with the mist and rain
And out of hate will come a new rebirth
Of shining glory tempered deep in pain
The Shattered hopes the tyrannies deny
Will grow again to bolster harried men
And lift their hearts in music singing high
The shackled dreams will gambol once again
In surging freedom through the wide blue sky
And all I ask is – You remember then”

Was Palopoli the wounded Marine in Cooper’s boat?

Retrieving lost honor at Tarawa

By Carl LaVO

Sixty-six years ago, Leon Cooper was a 22-year-old Navy ensign dodging bombs and bullets as hundreds of Marines died around him struggling to establish a beachhead against a fortified enemy in World War II. If it’s one place he wanted to avoid the rest of his life, it was that battlefield. Yet there he was on Red Beach in the spring of 2008 reliving a nightmare.
This wasn’t Normandy with it’s monuments and neatly manicured graves honoring the sacrifice of troops who came ashore to liberate France. Rather it was a garbage-soiled, bone-littered island half a world away in the South Pacific, a tiny spit of sand and rock in the atoll of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. It was there on Betio that 990 troops of the U.S. 2^nd Marine Division and 687 Navy personnel died overcoming a Japanese garrison of 4,700 in 500 artillery and machine gun nests.
For Cooper, the return was a searing reminder of the terror he experienced as a Higgins landing craft officer in the three-day battle in November 1943. He had come to the island with a purpose: to make a movie to convince the U.S. government to repair the desecration of a hallowed battlefield. "The piles of garbage are an insult to all those who died there," he said with an air of disgust from his home in Malibu recently. "Is this how we honor those who fought and died for our nation during the Pacific war?"
The documentary film – "Return to Tarawa – The Leon Cooper Story" – debuted on cable TV’s Military Channel at the end of March. "CBS Evening News" and "ABC World News" picked up the story, and distributor SnagFilms.com signed a deal for wider airing of the video. Meanwhile, New Zealand and an Australian recycling company have expressed interest in a cleanup effort on Betio. And non-profit History of Flight in Florida last year flew to Betio with ground penetrating radar that has revealed missing remains of buried soldiers.
Cooper’s purpose is to motivate the U.S. government to clean up the beach, build an incinerator to eliminate trash and could produce power for the island’s 25,000 inhabitants. He also wants the U.S. to send forensic experts to identify MIAs using DNA testing. He would like them to be re-buried in adequately marked graves or repatriated to families back home. Finally, he would like the government to relocate an all-but-forgotten U.S. memorial in an obscure parking lot to a place near Red Beach.
Since the airing of his film, Cooper has received scores of e-mails and phone calls from families of men who fought at Tarawa. Yet, he remains baffled by the disinterest of the American government that has continued long after an Associated Press story in 2004 revealed the dumping ground that Red Beach had become. Trying to right that wrong since that time, Cooper’s written letters to the President, Secretary of Defense, congressmen, senators, the Veterans Administration, the Battle Monument Commission and other agencies. He even flew to Washington in hopes of convincing Congress to get involved. To no avail. "They were too busy," as he put it.
Cooper, a retired inventor, business owner and University of Illinois graduate, expressed frustration last year to Steven Barber, a Hollywood film maker who challenged him to take the fight to a new level. "Let’s go to Tarawa with a cameraman," said Barber. The trio ended up spending a week there. Afterwards, Barber engaged Emmy Award-winning editor Jay Miracle to blend the film with footage of the actual invasion. Actor Ed Harris, a resident of Malibu, agreed to narrate the film after meeting Cooper over lunch. "It was Leon's passion and forthrightness and Malibu connection that impressed me," Harris recalled. "I enjoyed his frank manner, salty language, honesty and personal need to right this situation on Tarawa."
The documentary captures Cooper, normally quick-witted with a sunny disposition, choking back emotions as he walks amid the mounds of soiled diapers, food wrappings, glass and plastic, unexploded ordinance and what he’s convinced are human bones of fallen soldiers that all but obscure Red Beach.
For his part, Harris said he hopes the video will at last move Congress or the president. "I think Leon's plan for incinerators that would take care of the garbage situation and at the same time create an energy source for the islanders is a brilliant one," said the actor. "There is no reason why the U.S. government couldn't finance that and respect the dead by permanently marking the graves, re-burying, identifying, sending home remains to families who have long had loved ones listed as MIA."
Meanwhile, Cooper remains indefatigable – and angry. "I think people should petition their representatives. And I think they should put as much garbage as possible on the steps of the Capitol and have the media there. I’m serious. It would be symbolic of the callous indifference of Congress."
Like the soldier of his younger days storming the shores of Tarawa, he isn’t giving up. "Everyone should have an objective in life," he said. "This is mine. My last hurrah."

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