Photo by Paula Merritt / The Meridian StarFamily members watch as Honor Guards place the casket of Private First Class Ray James in a hearse at the Colonial Chapel in Bay Springs to be carried to the burial site at the Bethany Cemetery in Sylverena Friday.

SYLVARENA — Nearly 74 years after he died while serving his country in World War II, Marine Corp. Pfc. Ray James was finally laid to rest in Bethany Cemetery Friday afternoon. 

A ceremony was held in Bay Springs prior to the reinterment, and a crowd of more than 50 were on hand to witness the burial.

During the ceremony, a United States Marine Corps Honor Guard stood stoically, some with weapons in hand, to recognize the “honor, courage and commitment” of their fallen comrade. Marines fired shots in the air, and a lone Navy bugler played “Taps” in his honor.

“I think it’s wonderful,” Truitt Breazeale, Commander of the Department of Mississippi Military Order of the Purple Heart, said of the ceremony. “I think it indicates to all of the service members that we don’t leave anyone on the battlefield. It might take a while to get them back, but they will get them back as soon as they can to get them back for the great homecoming.”

James was 21 when he was killed on Nov. 20, 1943. He was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which landed on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, the Battle of Tarawa.

The young Marine died on the first day of battle, and his body was never recovered.

That is, until recently, when the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains in the National Memorial Cemetery in Honolulu.

According to one family member, the agency reached out to the family in June.

“They contacted my mother this summer, and we really didn’t know what to think about it,” said Robert Keyes, Jr., of Bay Springs, James’ great nephew. “I called them to make sure it’s for real, and it was. They wanted to give him a proper burial… My role in all this was trying to communicate to all the family that this is what’s about to happen.”

Keyes is the son of Jimmie Sue Keyes — James’ niece.

For Robert Keyes, having the family reunited to honor James was a special occasion. 

“It pleases me to know that he’s back home finally in a place where he started,” Keyes said. “Probably just about every person you see here is related in some way. . . I figured about three dozen family members would be here, and there may even be more than that.”

The ultimate sacrifice

Another family member, Jan James, said Ray James and his identical twin brother, Roy James, joined the military together.

She said that Ray and Roy James used the old twin trick quite a bit as youngsters, as it was difficult for some family members to tell them apart.

Jan James relayed a story that has been passed through the generations about how Roy James heard about Ray James’ death during the war.

Apparently, a Marine who witnessed Ray James’ death in battle found Roy James later, mistaking him for Ray James, and said, “I thought you were killed.”

That’s when Roy James realized his brother had died, she said.

Some 18,000 U.S. Marines were sent to Betio with the expectation of “easily” securing it, according to History.com. The battle lasted about 76 hours, and both the Japanese and American forces suffered heavy casualties.

James was among approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors who died in the island battle. Despite heavy losses, U.S. forces emerged victorious.  

“Low tides prevented some U.S. landing crafts from clearing the coral reefs that ringed the island. Japanese coastal guns pounded the snagged vessels and desperate Marines gave up on freeing the boats and instead waded toward shore – hundreds of yards away – through chest-deep water amidst enemy fire,” the site said.

For more information about the the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, visit http://www.dpaa.mil/