Lost for Decades, a Marine World War II Hero Finally Comes Home A plaque on a memorial site hangs to commemorate the Battle of Tarawa on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, Kiribati, June 19, 2017. (MCIPAC Combat Camera Lance Cpl. Juan C. Bustos/U.S. Marine Corps) 19 Apr 2021 The Los Angeles Times | By Gustavo Arellano LOS ANGELES -- The word came in the morning, as Grace Cruz and her children gathered at the family home in Boyle Heights on Christmas Eve, 1943. Her oldest son, Jacob, was dead. A telegram from the United States Marines said the 18-year-old private was killed in action but divulged little else. The ongoing Pacific campaign meant Jacob would be buried in a temporary grave in the Tarawa Atoll, where he and more than 1,000 other Marines and sailors died fighting the Imperial Japanese Army.