Mystery WWII Marine is identified in photo ...

Ohio.com - Mystery WWII Marine is identified in photo

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The mystery to the National Archives photo of Marine Private First Class Gerald Churchby (left) of Akron, Ohio, and Private First Class Douglas Lightheart while mopping up the enemy on Peleliu Islands, July 14, 1944 has been solved. The real name of the Akron Private is Gerald Paul Thursby, Sr. The photo was identified by his daughter, Becky Thursby Cardarella. (National Archives photo)
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A mystery that was decades in the making ended with just one glance.
The daughter of the World War II Marine took one look at her computer screen and recognized him.
''Oh, my God, that is my dad,'' said Becky Thursby Cardarella.
She knew right away that the man in the iconic black-and-white photo was her father, Marine Pfc. Gerald Paul Thursby Sr., crouching next to another Marine during the battle of Peleliu on Sept. 15, 1944.
Historians have been working to identify her father. All they had had to go on was a caption that identified the man in the photo as Pfc. Gerald Churchby of Akron.