Local leaders in San Mateo County joined the family of a fallen World War II veteran Wednesday for his funeral in San Bruno, concluding the final chapter of a mystery surrounding his fate that left his loved ones in the dark for more than 80 years.
“No one knew what happened to him,” said Supervisor Jackie Speier in an interview. “Yet we were able to identify him, and now he’s been brought home in full military honors today and will be buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery.”
Speier and other community officials gathered at the Duggan’s Serra Mortuary and the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno for a day of funeral services for Pfc. Helmut Behlert, a U.S. Marine who died in the Battle of Saipan in 1944.
For 81 years, the whereabouts of his remains were unknown to his family until a recent identification through DNA.
From the battle of Saipan to a DNA breakthrough
Behlert was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1916. He was deployed overseas with the Marines as a scout in 1942 and fought in the Pacific Theater against Japan.
On June 15, 1944, he boarded a landing craft bound for the beaches of Saipan as part of a U.S. assault against Japan, a battle that became one of the largest and deadliest amphibious assaults of World War II. Behlert died that day at the age of 27, and his family was told that he had been lost at sea.
“That would seem to have been the end of the story, but remarkably it is not,” Speier said in a speech at the funeral.
For eight decades, his family waited for answers and clues about what happened to Behlert.
Behlert’s niece, Ruth Green, is his closest surviving relative. Green, who grew up in San Francisco, was just a child when she learned that her favorite uncle had died in battle.
But in December last year, the now 94-year-old Green received a phone call from the Marines. Behlert’s remains were finally identified through DNA analysis after Green’s brother submitted a DNA sample of his own in 2001 as part of an effort to connect loved ones to missing American service members.
Since his death, Behlert’s remains had been kept thousands of miles away in Hawaii.
She (Green) didn’t want to believe it,” Speier said. “She actually thought it was a scam. So did the rest of the family. Eventually, they realized that it was actually quite real. And last week, the man she called Uncle Helm returned home after 81 years.”
Green welcomed her uncle back home last week when his remains were transported from Hawaii and arrived at San Francisco International Airport.
Laid to rest with full military honors
On Wednesday, funeral services began at the Duggan’s Serra Mortuary , where Green and her relatives were presented with commendations and honors from the mayor and vice mayor of Daly City. Supervisors David Canepa, Lisa Gauthier, and a representative from the office of U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-Daly City, also attended to pay their respects.
“Today is a day of remembrance. It’s a day of joy with endless persistence, and never ever giving up. Uncle Helm is staring down at us proud. Proud that you found him, proud that his family has never ever given up.”
San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa
“Today is a day of remembrance,” Canepa said. “It’s a day of joy with endless persistence, and never ever giving up. Uncle Helm is staring down at us proud. Proud that you found him, proud that his family has never ever given up.”
An American flag draped over Behlert’s casket as attendees sang hymns and shared speeches. Green was “overwhelmed” with gratitude as Behlert received numerous official recognitions from local officials, she said in an interview.
The service was followed by a burial at Golden Gate National Cemetery, where Marines led a funeral with full military honors for him. Behlert was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and other medals.
Behlert’s hearse was escorted by dozens of police officers on motorcycles and a group from the Patriot Guard Riders, an organization whose members assist in funeral services for veterans. Several miles of southbound state Highway 280 were shut down to traffic momentarily as the procession drove to the cemetery.
Green and other relatives watched as Behlert’s casket was lowered into the ground, laying him to rest among the thousands of other veterans buried at the cemetery. For the first time, Green will be able pay visits her late uncle who she remembers so dearly.
“They honored him so well,” Green said. “I don’t think I’ve comprehended a lot of it yet.”
Speier, Canepa, and the other local leaders in attendance were honored to be a part of the services.
“It was an experience I’ll never forget,” Canepa said. “I would just assume that this day is probably momentous for Ruth, and I think it’s a big day for the County of San Mateo as well.”
