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It's taken more than seven decades. But a young Marine who gave his life for his country on an island out in the Pacific is finally coming home -- or the closest place to it.
The remains of Corporal Raymond Snapp were driven to a Shreveport funeral home, with an escort of Marines, police and Patriot Guard Riders Thursday afternoon. The procession began at DFW Airport after his remains were flown in from Hawaii. He'll have a burial with full military honors tomorrow at the Northwest Lousiana Veterans Cemetery.
Corporal Snapp was not from here. But the Marines ensured that Corporal Snapp's final resting place is the best place.
November 20, 1943, was Day One of the Battle of Tarawa on a small island called Betio. Marines encounter fierce resistance from the Japanese. Corporal Raymond Snapp from the small town of Bonita, Texas is killed somewhere on that island. His remains not identifiable and buried near the battlefield in one of many mass graves, before the surviving attack force left for their next battle.
"The chaos of wartime and the memories of everybody who had left really just exacerbated the very difficult challenge of identifying the one thousand plus Marines that died over the course of those three days," explained Maj. Tim Kronjaeger of the US Marines.
When the war was over, as many remains as could be found were dug up and repatriated to the National Memorial Cemetery of The Pacific in Hawaii, including the unknown Marine from north Texas.
Flash forward to last October. Nearly a hundred sets of remains buried as unknowns are exhumed. Scientific advancements give hope of identifying them. In July, dental records and a chest x-ray show the remains of Unknown X-275 are Corporal Snapp. DNA testing confirmed it.
Then a geneologist in Salt Lake City was consulted to find Corporal Snapp's closest living relative. They found a cousin in Shreveport. So it was determined that Corporal Snapp should be buried here at the Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery to be close to her.
And so Friday, that woman, who wished not to appear in this story, will be here for the burial for the cousin she knew from childhood and on to young adulthood as he entered the Marines.
"Even more so than the memory of him is the memory of the Marine's mother who for so many years afterwards knew that her son had been killed in The Battle of Tarawa, but never knew specifically what happened to his remains," Maj. Kronjaeger said. "The only wish is that it would've been able to happen sooner when his mother was still alive."
But, 74 years after Corporal Snapp gave his life for his country, he'll receive a long deserved burial with full military honors like this one. There'll be a 21 gun salute. The folding of the flag for the family, and the playing of Taps on what turns out to be National POW MIA Day.
Ken Epperson, Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery Director, says, "We will never give up on our men or women that are missing. And this is just a testament to the fortitude and the dedication that our government has on behalf of our veterans and those that have served."
Epperson says other previously unknown relatives from Texas will also be here, as will the Patriot Guard Riders who will help escort Corporal Snapp's casket.
"I feel good about him being identified, about his remains being identified and given a proper burial, says PGR leader and Vietnam War Veteran Louis McGinty. "Especially in a cemetery such as Northwest where those people are put and remembered on Memorial Day, on Veterans Day, and other days of the year."
We'll remember this Marine, even if no one else here besides his cousin ever knew him.
"Our motto is Semper Fidelis. Which means always faithful. And we're always going to remain faithful to any of those who came before us," said Maj. Kronjaeger:.
The public is invited to help honor Corporal Raymond Snapp at tomorrow morning's procession and the funeral. If you'd like to show your support, the procession will depart Osborn Funeral Home on Southern Avenue in Shreveport at 9 a.m. Then at 10, the burial service with full Marine Corps Military Honors will be begin at the Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery near Keithville.
