Horace Carlsen, USMC-- Part 5: Funeral Arrangements

VISITATION:  Friday, October 12, 2018 from 5 pm until 8 pm at Glueckart Funeral Home, Ltd. 1520 N. Arlington Heights Road (4 blocks south of Palatine Road) Arlington Heights, Illinois 60004.

A 11 am Saturday, October 13, 2018 Committal Service will be held at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, Elwood, Illinois.

In lieu of flowers, memorial may be donated to non-profit organizations working to locate and identify the remaining lost Tarawa Marines.

Funeral information and condolences can be given at www.GlueckertFuneralHome,com or (847) 253-0168.

Great To Have You back, Sgt. Carlsen  --GreGen

Horace Carlsen, USMC-- Part 4: Finally Identified

Due to extensive research by William Niven, Rick Stone (Chief Rick Stone and Family Foundation), and Mark Noah (History Flight), the search for Bud focused on Grave E1212.

Work by Nancy Spellman, Bud's niece, and great nephew Ed Spellman, led to the exhumation if E1212 and the conclusive identification of Bud in June 2018.

Bud is survived by his nieces and nephews:  Barbara Rapp, James Goodman, Richard Goodman, JAne Hilmer, and many great nieces and nephews.

Many Thanks to Them.  --GreGen

Horace Carlsen, USMC-- Part 3: Killed At Battle of Tarawa, Remains Unidentified

In November of 1943, he was among the first troops to assault the heavily fortified enemy defenses of Betio Island Red Beach One, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert islands, as part of an advance team whose mission was to establish a headquarters for tractor battalion operations.

Bud was one of the 550 Marines killed in the battle whose remains were not identified or recovered. Dogtags were removed, gravesites obliterated and records lost.In 1946, his unidentified remains were moved to Hawaii's Schofield Mausoleum.

In 1949 his remains were reinterred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Hawaii's Punchbowl in grave E1212.

--GreGen

Horace Carlsen, USMC-- Part 2: At Many Battles, Including Guadalcanal

Horace "Bud" Carlsen was born January 4, 1912, in Brookfield to James and Amalia (nee Mehalek) Carlsen.  He died on November 20, 1943 during the Battle of Tarawa in the Pacific during WW II.

Bud came from a large family of 4 sisters and two brothers.  Through the 1930's Bud worked as an auto mechanic for Mahoney & Sirvotka in Cicero.  He was married to Jarmila Fisera from 1933 to 1941.

He enlisted in the Marine reserves in December 1941.  He rose to the rank of Technical Sergeant and served as the Quartermaster Maintenance Chief for Company A of the 2nd Marine Division's Second Amphibious Tractor Battalion.

From August through December of 1942, he participated in landing assaults against several strongly defended enemy positions in the South Pacific, including Tulagi, Gavutu, Tonambogo, Florida, Guadalcanal and British Solomon Islands.

--GreGen

Horace Bud Carlsen Obituary-- Part 1: Died in 1943, Unknown Until 2018

From the October 7, 2018, Chicago Tribune Obituaries.

While reading Sunday's Chicago Tribune I happened to glance at the obituaries.  I usually don't look at the obituaries in the Tribune when people have to pay for them as they are too short.  I want to know about the lives of the people.  This one was a lot longer than most and then in the second sentence read that he had died on November 20, 1943.

OK. that was a long time ago and 1943 would mean World War II.  Then I saw he died at the Battle of Tarawa.  And, he was from the Chicago area.

And then, I thought to myself that the Tribune had definitely missed a good story here.  But, today, I see the story made front page.  Many Marines who died in that battle were never identified and buried as unknowns.

Here's hoping the U.S. government will start work on identifying these people as they have the Oklahoma unknowns.

--GreGen