Sandy Bonnyman, left, with his father, Alexander Bonnyman, 1912. Author’s collection.
Sandy Bonnyman at six or seven years old, Knoxville, Tennessee. Author’s collection.
Sandy and Jo Bonnyman, date and location unknown. Author’s collection.
Sandy Bonnyman at Camp Judgeford, New Zealand, September 1943. Author’s collection.
Sandy Bonnyman, second from right, in a foxhole during the fighting on Tarawa, November 21 or 22, 1943. Note the lack of a helmet cover and three stripes indicating shore-party duty. Obie Newcomb/US Marine Corps.
Marines swarm up the sand-covered bunker during the final assault on November 22, 1943. Sandy Bonnyman is not visible; he had already been killed at the leading edge of the bunker, out of sight, when this photo was taken. Obie Newcomb/US Marine Corps.
Posthumous 1944 portrait of Sandy Bonnyman by Italian artist Arturo Noci. Clay Bonnyman Evans.
Frances Bonnyman, age twelve, receives her father’s Medal of Honor from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on January 22, 1947. To Forrestal’s right are her mother, Josephine Russell, and grandfather, Alexander Bonnyman Sr. US Marine Corps.
Close-up of Sandy Bonnyman’s Medal of Honor. Clay Bonnyman Evans.
The author stands at the northwest corner of “Bonnyman’s Bunker,” where his grandfather led the assault, in 2010. The same corner is visible in Obie Newcomb’s photo above. Clay Bonnyman Evans.
Local children play on the ruins of the medium Sherman tank Cobra, which remains stuck in the shell hole where it foundered nearly three-quarters of a century after the battle. Clay Bonnyman Evans.
A Kiribati girl poses atop the wreckage of an amphibious vehicle from the battle, surrounded by garbage. Clay Bonnyman Evans.
History Flight’s Kristen Baker, foreground, left, Paul Schwimmer, center, and John Frye, right, begin the final excavation of Sandy Bonnyman’s remains on May 29, 2015. Clay Bonnyman Evans.
Kristen Baker brushes away sand, exposing remains in the grave next to Sandy Bonnyman, whose skull is visible behind. Note gold dental work used to identify his remains. Clay Bonnyman Evans.
The skull of 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., uncovered after lying hidden for more than seventy-one years in the sands of Betio island. Clay Bonnyman Evans.
Sandy Bonnyman’s Zippo lighter, located by the author beneath his remains on Tarawa. Clay Bonnyman Evans.
The skeletal remains of Sandy Bonnyman prior to their removal. The helmet belonging to another marine, Roland Vosmer, is visible to the left. Clay Bonnyman Evans.
Members of the History Flight team that contributed to the recovery of Cemetery 27. From left, front row: Hillary Parsons, Clay Bonnyman Evans, Reid Joyce, Paul Schwimmer Middle: David Senn, Corinne D’Anjou, Mark Noah, Ed Huffine, Glenn Prentice, Rick Snow Back: Jim Williams, Kurt Hiete, James Goodrich, Katie Rasdorf, John Frye, Kristen Baker. Jeremy Edward Shiok.
Retired US Army Lt. Gen. Michael S. Linnington, then-director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, left, with the author, center, and Mark Noah, founder and director of History Flight, Inc., following a lying-in-honor ceremony for Sandy Bonnyman in Knoxville, Tennessee on September 26, 2015. Jeremy Edward Shiok.
A custom-built caisson transports the remains of 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, Jr. to his final resting place at Berry Highland Memorial Cemetery, Knoxville, Tennessee, September 27, 2015. Jeremy Edward Shiok.
US Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Burke W. Whitman hands a folded American flag to Frances Bonnyman Evans at her father’s funeral on September 27, 2015. Visible to Evans’ right are her sister, Alexandra Bonnyman Prejean, the author, and Margot McAllister, surviving daughter of their late sister, Josephine. Cpl. Sarah Graham/US Marine Corps.