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Casualty Info
Home Town McKees Rocks, PA
Last Address 1217 Highland Ave Coraoplis, PA
Casualty Date Jun 01, 1944
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Artillery, Rocket, Mortar
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
Wall/Plot Coordinates Court 3 (cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
USS Herring (SS-233) began her 8th, and last war patrol on 21 May 1944, patrolling around the Kurile Islands. She sank two Japanese merchant ships on the morning of 1 June 1944. She was sunk later that day by enemy shore batteries, with a loss of all hands. Lieutenant Junior Grade Kostal Jr. was listed as missing in action and later declared dead 17 January 1946.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 089211
Submarine war patrols:
USS Pollack (SS-180) - 9th
USS Herring (SS-233) - 8th
The information contained in this profile was compiled from various internet sources.
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of Tarawa
From Month/Year
November / 1943
To Month/Year
November / 1943
Description The Battle of Tarawa (US code name Operation Galvanic) was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, located in what is now the nation of Kiribati. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio.
The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was also the first time in the war that the United States faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings met little or no initial resistance. but this time the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The U.S. had suffered similar casualties in other campaigns, for example over the six months of the Guadalcanal Campaign, but in this case the losses were incurred within the space of 76 hours.