[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 150 (Thursday, December 7, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING CORPORAL MASON O. YARBROUGH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JO ANN EMERSON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 7, 2000

  Mrs. EMERSON. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor and humility that I 
submit this tribute into the Congressional Record about a true patriot 
and hero--Corporal Mason O. Yarbrough, United States Marine Corps, of 
Sikeston, Missouri. Corporal Yarbrough was part of an elite unit, the 
2nd Marine Raider Battalion. This unit, under the command of Lieutenant 
Colonel Evans. F. Carlson during World War II was known as ``Carlson's 
Raiders.'' As part of the baby boom generation, I owe a great deal of 
debt and gratitude to this brave warrior because it was his service and 
sacrifice that allowed all of us to grow up in a free society.
  The year 1942 found our nation in grave danger, threatened by both 
Germany and Japan. Colonel Carlson and his Raiders undertook the second 
offensive operation of the war against Japan in August of 1942. After 
extensive training in weapons, hand-to-hand combat and the use of 
rubber boats, C and D companies of the Marine Raiders were sent to 
Midway Island. At Midway, they helped the Navy turn back a massive 
Japanese attack from June 3 through 6, 1942 in what would become the 
turning point of the Pacific War.
  A and B companies of Carlson's Raiders, including Yarbrough of B 
company were earmarked by Adm. Chester Nimitz for an attack August 17, 
1942 on Makin in the Gilbert Islands about 1,000 miles northeast of 
Guadalcanal. Their mission was to destroy the island's small Japanese 
seaplane base and its garrison, gain intelligence on the area and 
perhaps more importantly divert Japanese attention and troops from 
Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. There, U.S. troops had 
landed 10 days earlier to begin the major offensive of the Pacific War. 
The Japanese were pouring reinforcements into Guadalcanal and Nimitz 
was looking to a diversionary hit-and-run raid on Makin to ease the 
pressure.
  The force of 220 Raiders arrived off Makin in the predawn hours of 
August 17. They had been ferried from Pearl Harbor aboard the 
submarines Nautilus and Argonaut, which had stripped and reconfigured 
their torpedo compartments to make room for the marines. Unlike other 
units, this group did not have the luxury of naval gunfire support of 
Naval and Army Air Corps cover.
  On August 17, 1942 (August 16 local time) fierce fighting ensued and 
Corporal Yarbrough on his twenty-first birthday was fatally struck down 
by enemy fire. On August 18, as survivors of ``Carlson's Raiders'' 
withdrew from the island to rendezvous with the waiting submarines, 
arrangements were made with a local village chief to bury the bodies of 
the fallen men.
  Now, fifty-eight long years after Corporal Yarbrough's heroic action, 
his remains have been recovered. The Yarbrough family, together with 
the citizens of Sikeston, Missouri will bid him farewell with a service 
and burial on December 15, 2000. At 2:19 p.m. on that date, a moment of 
silence will be observed to honor all nineteen Marine Raiders whose 
remains were recovered from the Makin mission. This honor will also be 
extended to the nine Marine Raiders of the Makin raid whose remains are 
yet to be repatriated, as well as all the MIAs and KIAs from our great 
nation's wars.

                          ____________________