Welver Charles Vaughan

A committal service will be held at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, located at 2177 Puowaina Dr, Honolulu, HI, 96813, US. The service is scheduled for December 2, 2025, from 10:30 am to 11:30 am.

Born February 18, 1918, in Walters, Minnesota, Welver Charles Vaughan was the 3rd of seven children blessed to the union of Charles Burwell and Alma Margaret (nee Grams) Vaughan.

On Sept. 15, 2023, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Welver Charles Vaughan, missing from World War II.

Welver entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Minnesota and served in L Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. On Nov. 20, 1943, this unit participated in a large-scale amphibious assault on the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa. Securing Tarawa was a crucial steppingstone in the planned U.S. offensive across the central Pacific toward Japan. The Japanese garrison on Tarawa’s main island of Betio was well-entrenched with hundreds of bunkers and gun positions behind formidable beach obstacles. Over four days of intense combat, the Marines suffered heavy casualties but succeeded in securing the island. Vaughan was killed in action on November 20, likely while attempting to secure Red Beach 1. He was reportedly buried in the East Division Cemetery, but his remains were not recovered when that site was later searched. From Aug. 8 through Sept. 20, 2010, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, a predecessor of DPAA, team conducted an archeological mission on Betio Island, Republic of Kiribati. During the mission, the team received possible human remains from the local police that had been turned over by a civilian digging on his property. The team then recovered further remains and evidence from the site. These remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis. There scientists used modern forensic techniques to individually identify Vaughan.

For his service and sacrifice, Welver's parents accepted the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation. Also left to mourn his passing were his siblings; Army CPL Virgil Chestnit Vaughan, anti-tank division; Army PVT Burwell Archie Vaughan, signal detachment; PFC Everett Leo, parachute infantry; USMC CPL Therron Henry Vaughan, stationed at Pearl Harbor; USMM Aaron Orgen Vaughan; and little Madeline Ella (Mrs Mickelson).

Marine Corps Corporal Welver Charles Vaughan is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing".