RADFORD -- The bodies of nearly two dozen U.S. Marines have been missing on Guadalcanal for nearly 66 years. A group of Radford University students now hopes to find them and bring them home.

"It's a humanitarian mission," said anthropology professor Donna Boyd, one of the professors who plan to take seven students to the Solomon Islands in July to search for the remains of the ill-fated group of Marines known as the Goettge patrol.

The students, accompanied by three professors, plan to use ground-penetrating radar in hopes of pinpointing the site where Japanese soldiers buried the Marines in 1942 during World War II. Previous efforts to find the men's graves have been unsuccessful.

"It's going to be an invaluable experience working in the field," said Sarah Clark, a 20-year-old rising senior from Virginia Beach majoring in psychology and minoring in anthropology. "I've never been out of the country and I love anthropology, and I thought it would be silly not to give it a try."

The 25-man Goettge patrol, named after the Marine intelligence officer in charge, Lt. Col. Frank Goettge, set out in a boat on Aug. 12, 1942, toward an area west of the Matanikau River, where they believed a group of demoralized Japanese soldiers might be willing to surrender. Not long after landing on the beach, though, they were pinned down by enemy fire. Over the course of the night and into the morning, most were killed. In the end, only three survived: they swam more than 4 miles back to an American camp.

The slain Marines are presumed to have been buried in a trench near the spot where they fought. An MIA-recovery group, which has collected documents and located what it thinks is the most likely burial site, asked Radford anthropology professor Cliff Boyd to take the next step and find the remains of the Marines. Boyd co-founded the university's Forensic Science Institute along with his wife, professor Donna Boyd.

Donna Boyd said the group asked Radford to get involved after reading about her husband's attempts -- so far unsuccessful -- to find the graves of Union soldiers killed in a massacre in Saltville during the Civil War. Physics professor Rhett Herman is accompanying the Boyds and the students because he has expertise in the use of ground-penetrating radar

Though the two-week mission is humanitarian, Boyd said, it should provide significant training to the students.

"I think it's going to be a life-learning experience for me," said Gary Seth Barrett, 22, of Bristol, who recently graduated from Radford after majoring in exercise, sport and health education. Barrett said he decided to take the July 6 trip to Guadalcanal because he's been a lifetime military history enthusiast, and because some family members served in World War II.

"I think it would be amazing if we could locate these individuals and bring them home to their families,," he said. "It would be a real honor."

In addition to Clark and Barrett, students making the trip are Arianna Berkowitz of Amherst, Elizabeth Gichana of Blacksburg, Nicholas McComas of Front Royal, Trevor Twyford of Virginia Beach and Josh Van de Riet of Herndon.
Contact Rex Bowman at (540) 344-3612 or rbowman@timesdispatch.com.