{"id":123649,"date":"2017-11-24T12:32:09","date_gmt":"2017-11-24T18:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chiefrickstone.com\/0-no-title\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T11:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:50:06","slug":"0-no-title","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.chiefrickstone.com\/?page_id=123649","title":{"rendered":"In Memoriam"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Left Behind”:\u00a0<\/strong> <\/span><\/em>Foundation\u00a0member CAStone’s copyrighted photograph of a missing Marine’s helmet at a burial site under excavation on Tarawa\"\"<\/p>\n

The Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation has created this portion of our web site in humble thanks and appreciation for the families and friends of the following\u00a0American servicemen and women who have generously\u00a0donated to\u00a0our Foundation.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Only with your support have our Foundation’s efforts to locate, recover and identify\u00a0lost American heroes\u00a0and to provide information to their families been possible.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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THE CASE OF TECHNICAL SERGEANT HARRY ARNOLD “BUD” CARLSEN, USMC<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Technical Sergeant Harry Arnold “Bud” Carlsen<\/strong> was born in Brookfield, Illinois and joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves fifteen days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.\u00a0 He was assigned to the 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marines and his mechanical skills with the new Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVT’s) soon earned him rapid promotions.\u00a0 On 20 November 1943, TSGT Carlsen\u00a0reached shore\u00a0on Tarawa’s Red Beach 2 aboard one of his LVTs.\u00a0 He was cut down attempting to attack a Japanese machine gun emplacement and buried several days later in Cemetery 33 on Tarawa.\u00a0 When all the burial sites on Tarawa were exhumed in 1946, TSGT Carlsen’s remains could not be identified and he was buried as an “Unknown” in the Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii.\u00a0 His case as an “Unresolved” casualty or MIA sat in limbo for the next 65 years.<\/p>\n

In 2011, Chief Rick Stone, as a member of the\u00a0Department of Defense,\u00a0began investigating all of the “Unknowns” from the Battle of Tarawa using the “Random Incident Correlation System” (RISC) that he had developed during his career as a Dallas Police Commander.<\/p>\n

On 26 March 2012, Chief Stone submitted an official report which listed TSGT Carlsen as a “Most Likely Match” to Unknown X-82.\u00a0 In a series of meetings inside the Joint POW\/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), Chief Stone advocated repeatedly for TSGT Carlsen’s recovery and identification without success, even appealing to the JPAC commanding general for TSGT Carlsen’s immediate recovery.\u00a0 In response, the JPAC Lab Director insisted that Chief Stone was wrong and that\u00a0Unknown X-82 couldn’t be TSGT Carlsen\u00a0because \u201cvoodoo science\u201d\u00a0was used in the case\u00a0investigation and the other voodoo science\u00a0Chief Stone\u00a0suggested to identify TSGT Carlsen’s remains (DNA) was, well, just plain \u201cvoodoo\u201d.<\/p>\n

After\u00a0Chief Stone\u00a0left the Department of Defense, TSGT Carlsen’s family contacted the Foundation in 2012 and requested a comprehensive Family Report on Bud’s case.\u00a0 The family also contacted their congressman who requested a copy of Chief Stone’s JPAC investigation.\u00a0 In an article in the Chicago Tribune on 20 October 2013, Chief Stone is quoted as saying:\u00a0 “I’d bet my house, your house and every house down the block that it (X-82)\u00a0is Tech. Sgt. Carlsen.”\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/articles.chicagotribune.com\/2013-10-20\/news\/ct-met-world-war-ii-remains-20131020_1_tarawa-brookfield-ids<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Also included in the article:\u00a0 <\/strong>“Chief Stone said his requests to disinter X-82 and several other graves were denied. When he offered to pay out of pocket to exhume X-82, he said some JPAC officials laughed.”\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

With each passing year, the utilization of advanced law enforcement techniques and acquisition of sophisticated technologies convinced Chief Stone and the Foundation more and more that TSGT Carlsen was X-82.\u00a0 Bud’s Family Reports were updated in 2014 and 2016 to reflect the fact that TSGT Carlsen was a Most Likely Match to only one<\/span> “Unknown” in the Punchbowl Cemetery:\u00a0 X-82.<\/p>\n

Finally, JPAC was disbanded under a firestorm of public and congressional criticism and their replacement agency (DPAA) finally acted on Chief Stone’s recommendation and exhumed\u00a0Unknown X-82\u00a0in 2017.<\/p>\n

On 31 July 2018, TSGT Carlsen\u2019s family was notified by the Marine Corps that Bud\u00a0had been identified\u00a0by DNA as\u00a0Unknown X-82<\/strong><\/span> from the Punchbowl Cemetery.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO \u201cNO HOME FOR HEROES\u201d PODCAST EPISODE 59 \u2013 \u201cI’D BET THE HOUSE TO BRING BUD HOME\u201d \u2013 <\/strong>WITH MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SEARCH FOR TECH SERGEANT CARLSEN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Additional Honored Heroes In Alphabetical Order<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Gunner’s Mate 1st Class William Powers Anderson and wife, Virginia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gunner’s Mate 1st Class Anderson was born in Lorenzo, Texas in 1920 and enlisted in the United States Navy Reserves only ten days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.\u00a0 With very little basic training, Andy (as he was known to family and friends) was rushed to join the crew of the USS Pennsylvania<\/em>, one of the damaged battleships from Pearl Harbor being repaired on the West Coast.\u00a0 \u00a0Gunner’s Mate Anderson served on board the Pennsylvania during the Aleutian Campaign and the attacks in the Gilbert Islands in 1943.\u00a0 After advanced gunnery school at the Washington Navy Yard, Gunner’s Mate Anderson was assigned to serve on newly constructed cruisers, including the USS Guam<\/em> and the USS Dayton<\/em>.\u00a0 After participating in attacks on the Japanese homeland in 1945, he was aboard the USS Dayton<\/em> in Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered in September 1945.\u00a0 GM1c Anderson survived the war and moved back to Texas.\u00a0 He died on 19 September 1980 in Amarillo, Texas at age 60.<\/p>\n

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\"\"\u00a0PFC Ault was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where he married and created a professional career as a florist.\u00a0 Ed, as he was known to his family and friends, became a pillar of local society and the business community in Charlotte.\u00a0 He enlisted in the Marine Corps as a Private when he was 33 years of age.\u00a0 PFC Ault became a member of the Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines where he trained as a crew member on a 37 mm anti-tank gun.\u00a0 During the invasion of Tarawa on 20 November 1943, PFC Ault was killed by a gunshot wound to the head about 50 yards inland from Red Beach 3.\u00a0 PFC Ault’s body was likely buried near where he fell in battle by his company mates.\u00a0 In researching PFC Ault’s case for his family, the Foundation found a map with the exact location where PFC Ault was killed.\u00a0 However, his body remains unrecovered and unidentified.\u00a0 He remains in “Unresolved” status to this day.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO \u201cNO HOME FOR HEROES\u201d PODCAST EPISODE 62 \u2013 \u201cTHE CASE OF THE MISSING FLORIST\u201d \u2013 <\/strong>WITH MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SEARCH FOR PFC AULT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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PVT Loren Monroe Baylis<\/p>\n

Private Baylis was born in Riley, Michigan in 1894 and enlisted in the United States Army during World War I.\u00a0 He trained as a member of the Camp Custer Detachment, 104th Field Artillery.\u00a0 The photo above was taken at Camp Gordon in Atlanta, Georgia.\u00a0 PVT Baylis was transported overseas on board the USS America along with members of the 27th Division, 52nd Field Artillery Brigade, 104th Field Artillery arriving in Brest, France on 4 March 1918.\u00a0 PVT Baylis survived the war and moved to Edinburg, Texas in 1926.\u00a0 He died on 15 May 1971 in Harlingen, Texas at age 77.<\/p>\n

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SGT John Andrew Blankenburg<\/p>\n

SGT Blankenburg\u00a0was born in\u00a0Panhandle, Texas\u00a0and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1941.\u00a0 He was a member of\u00a0the 2nd Aviation Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division\u00a0during the battles of Guadalcanal, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Guam, and Iwo Jima.\u00a0 Re-enlisting in 1948, SGT Blankenburg\u00a0was assigned to the 1st<\/sup> Engineer Battalion of the First Marine Division.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He was shipped\u00a0to Korea in\u00a0August 1950 and\u00a0participated\u00a0in battles\u00a0at the Pusan Perimeter, Inchon Landing, Seoul, Wonsan Landing, and Chosin Reservoir.\u00a0 On the cold night of 1 December 1950,\u00a0SGT Blankenburg\u00a0was attached to a small unit of about 15 Marines who were holding a perimeter at Hagaru-Ri when about 240 Chinese attacked.\u00a0 Sgt. Blankenburg was killed during the fight.\u00a0\u00a0 His body was not recovered until 1954 when he was identified by the U.S. Army\u2019s Central Identification Laboratory and sent home to rest with his parents and brother in Pampa, Texas.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO \u201cNO HOME FOR HEROES\u201d PODCAST EPISODE 24 \u2013 \u201cWHATEVER HAPPENED TO JOHN?\u201d \u2013 <\/strong>WITH MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FATE OF SGT BLANKENBURG<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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GM3c Paul Sidney Blankenburg<\/p>\n

Gunners Mate 3rd Class Blankenburg\u00a0was born in\u00a0Panhandle, Texas\u00a0and enlisted in the\u00a0U.S. Navy\u00a0in 1941.\u00a0 He served on the cruiser USS Brooklyn<\/em> in the North Atlantic, Caribbean, England, and during the invasion of North Africa.\u00a0\u00a0 The USS Monterrey<\/em>\u00a0was a new light aircraft carrier when Blankenburg joined her in 1943.\u00a0 He served on board with future President Gerald Ford and participated in strikes against Makin Island, Kavieng, New Ireland and supported the landings at Kwajalein and Eniwetok.\u00a0 The Monterrey<\/em> then conducted raids in the Carolines, Marianas, New Guinea, and the Bonin Islands.\u00a0 GM3c Blankenburg fought in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and strikes against Wake Island, the southern Philippines, and the Ryukyus.\u00a0 As the war drew to a close, the Monterrey<\/em> supported the landings at Leyte and Mindoro in the Philippines.\u00a0 Ironically, after surviving World War II, Blankenburg was killed in an industrial fire in Pampa, Texas in 1954.<\/p>\n

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Fireman 3rd Class Clarence Arvin Blaylock<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fireman 3rd Class Clarence Arvin Blaylock<\/strong> was born in Tarrant County, Texas.\u00a0 He was a Boy Scout and member of his high school ROTC program before joining the Navy in 1940.\u00a0 He boarded the <\/span>USS Oklahoma<\/em> as a member of the battleship\u2019s crew on 22 July 1941 and was on board the <\/span>Okie<\/em> when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.\u00a0 After the attack F3c Blaylock’s body was found but could not be segregated from other recovered remains.\u00a0 He was listed as \u201cMissing in Action\u201d (MIA) and buried as an “Unknown” in the Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In 2015, the Department of Defense began exhuming the \u201cUnknowns\u201d from the USS Oklahoma<\/em> with the hope that DNA technology by the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) could identify the co-mingled remains.\u00a0 On 29 July 2019, the Department of Defense announced that F3c Clarence Arvin Blaylock had been identified by DNA comparison.\u00a0 After his identification by DNA in 2019, F3c Clarence Arvin Blaylock was returned to the Punchbowl Cemetery and re-buried with a grave marker listing his name in Plot O, Grave Number 326 on 7 November 2022.<\/p>\n

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Chief Fire Controlman William Lewis Booth<\/p>\n

CFC Booth\u00a0 was born in Clinton, Iowa to Roy Edwin Booth and Ivy Geleene Curl Booth.\u00a0 William enlisted in the U.S. Navy in Des Moines, Iowa on 16 July 1934 and re-enlisted two more times while he pursued a rating as a Fire Controlman.\u00a0 \u00a0Fire Controlman Booth served on the cruisers USS Louisville<\/em> and USS Northampton.\u00a0<\/em> He was transferred to the submarine, USS Triton,<\/em> on 27 December 1940 and was on board for all six of Triton’s<\/em> war patrols.\u00a0 On 15 March 1943, the Triton<\/em> radioed that she was chasing a Japanese convoy that was protected by escorts between Rabaul and the Shortland Islands.\u00a0 \u00a0Nothing was ever heard from Triton<\/em> again and she was presumed lost.\u00a0 CFC Booth and 73 crewmates from the Triton<\/em> continue to be listed as “Unaccounted For” by the Department of Defense.\u00a0 The wreckage of the Triton<\/em> has never been found.<\/p>\n

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SGT John Terry Brackeen<\/p>\n

SGT Brackeen stated he was born in Tipton, Oklahoma and was known as “Pat” or simply “J.T.” to his family and friends.\u00a0 Pat left school after the sixth grade and he later found work on a county road crew.\u00a0 He enlisted in the Marine Corps less than two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor.\u00a0 As a member of G Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, Pat fought on Tulagi and Guadalcanal Islands in August 1942.\u00a0 During the invasion of Tarawa on 20 November 1943, SGT Brackeen was killed near Red Beach 2.\u00a0 SGT Brackeen’s body was not identified after the battle and he is currently one of thirteen members of his company who remain “Missing in Action.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO \u201cNO HOME FOR HEROES\u201d PODCAST EPISODE 78 \u2013 \u201cSEARCHING FOR A MISSING OKIE\u201d \u2013 <\/strong>WITH MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FATE OF SGT BRACKEEN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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