Pfc John B. Quinn, Jr.
U. S. Marine Corps (USMC), 6th Marines, Missing In Action (MIA)

Background
John Bernard Quinn, Jr. was born October 17, 1925 in Brooklyn, New York to father John Quinn and mother Florence E. Quinn. He attended Midwood High School in Brooklyn, NY. After graduating he worked for Norden and was exempt from the draft but decided to volunteer for the Marines regardless.

Wartime History
On January 6, 1944 he enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps (USMC) in New York, NY and was assigned serial number 925537. During May 1944 he was deployed overseas as a replacement and assigned to the 6th Marines, 29th Marine Regiment, 1st Battalion, C Company and participated in the Okinawa campaign.

Missing In Action
On June 29, 1945 Quinn volunteered for a mission to rescue a wounded comrade who was trapped in a cave in southern Okinawa and was killed and his body left in a cave at Target Square 7456, P-3 and could not be recovered. He was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA).

Memorials
Quinn was officially declared dead on June 29, 1945 at age 19. He earned the Purple Heart, posthumously. He is memorialized at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) on the courts of the missing, court 4.

Relatives
Audrey Donzio (sister)
Gerald Quinn (brother)
Larry Paleno (nephew)

Postwar Search
Postwar, Quinn's records were compared with laboratory data for all unidentified remains recovered from that area with negative results. On August 22, 1951 a team from American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) searched for Quinn, Hartman and Jones in the map coordinate indicated and interviewed native Okinawan people but their search had negative results. The next day, the team recommended all three MIA cases be declared non-recoverable. Inside the caves they explored they located skeletal remains that were all deemed to be Japanese based on their equipment and other means of identification. Officially on November 21, 1951 he was one of three Americans declared non-recoverable by a board review by Col. C. H. Elmes, Quartermaster Corps.

Dog Tag Discovery
During 1993, a dog tag for John B. Quinn, Jr. was located "outside a cave" and was later presented to Marine 2nd Lt. Kerry J. Quinn by his Sergeant Major while they were stationed on Okinawa as the Lieutenant had the same surname. Later, he attempted to locate the family and return the dog tag to them. In 2011, while searching the 6th Marine Division Association website he located one of Quinn's relatives, Larry Paleno and contacted him and mailed him the dog tag. On 2012, the dog tag of John B. Quinn, Jr. was returned to his family. On May 18, 2012 the two Quinn families met at the National World War II Memorial in Washington DC.

Contemporary Searches
During 2018, Japanese NGO Kuentai-USA performed two independent searches for Quinn at the map coordinates indicated in his Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF). During these searches, they located Japanese remains, artifacts and unexploded ordnance, but no trace of Quinn.

On March 30, 2019, Kuentai-USA with Pacific Wrecks again searched for Quinn in southern Okinawa. During this visit they located more Japanese remains, artifacts and unexploded ordnance, but no trace of Quinn.

References
Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) - John B. Quinn, Jr. pages 1-26
USMC Casualty Card - John B. Quinn, Jr.
AGRS (Pacific Zone) APO 958 "Proceedings of Board of Review" by Col. C. H. Elmes via IDPF John B. Quinn, Jr. pages 9-10
Map "Target Square 7456, P-3, Ryukyu Retto Map, Itoman Sheet 3625 III NE Itoman Sheet S.E. 3625 III S. E. 1:25,000” Target Square 7456, P-3
New York Daily News "Obituary John B. Quinn" August 13, 1945
"In action in his first battle, Pfc John B.. Quinn, 19, was killed June 29 on Okinawa while trying to rescue a wounded comrade who was trapped in a cave, his parent, Mr. and Mrs. John, of 5215 Ave. L, Brooklyn, have been notified. He had volunteered for the mission. Before enlisting in the Marines in January, 1944, he attended Midwood High School. He was sent overseas last May."
American Battle Monuments Commission (AMBC) - John B. Quinn Jr.
FindAGrave - PFC John Bernard Quinn, Jr (obituary, photo, courts of the missing photo)
DVIDS "Dog tags make it home after 66 years" by Lance Cpl. Chelsea Anderson May 22, 2012 (photos)
Thanks to Kuentai-USA including Usan Kurata and Yukari Akatsuka for additional research and analysis