From the September 29, 2021, Santa Maria (California) Times "Hanford Marine killed in World War II laid to rest with honors" by Donald A Promnitz.
He was found eight years ago on the tiny Pacific island of Betio in the Battle of Tarawa.
The ceremony took place at the church of his youth, the First Methodist Church, and he was buried among family at Grangeville Cemetery.
He was born in Hanford in 1923 and grew up there until his family moved to Cambria in 1940. He joined the Marines in the summer of 1941 and was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. He went on to serve in the Pacific Theater and was at the American first offensive at Guadalcanal in 1942.
After a short rest, he was part of the Marine attack on the island of Betio in the Battle of Tarawa which was ought primarily to capture a strategic Japanese airfield. It was an intense battle in which over 1,000 Americans were killed in a 76-hour period of time.
Many of the Americans drowned before they could even reach the beach. According to former Marine SGM Justin LeHew, witnesses confirmed that Waltz was able to reach the shore before being mortally wounded on November 20, 1943, the first day of the landing.
LeHew serves as the chief operating officer for History Flight, a non-profit group dedicated to finding, identifying and bringing home fallen military personnel. They found Waltz's remains in 2013 during n excavation and six years later they were able to positively able to identify his remains.
This group has found and identified many of the USMC unknowns on Betio.
He was buried with full military honors.
Bringing the Boys Home. --GreGen
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