Members of a U.S. Marine Corps honor guard salute during services for U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Arthur B. Ervin, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023.  (Sgt. Edward Randolph / U.S. Army)

After Barbara Dyer of Chisago City, Minn., died at age 86 in 2019, her family buried her at the Fairview Cemetery in Lindstrom.

Four years later, her family gathered again as Dyer’s brother, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Arthur Ervin Jr., was laid to rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii — even though he died 75 years before his sister at age 22 during World War II on July 5, 1944.

A photo of World War II U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Arthur B. Ervin, along with his dog tags, is on display in the Chisago City, Minn., home of his niece, Nita Kay, on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

It was a long-awaited service — with full military honors — and Dyer’s family wished she could have lived long enough to witness this patriotic sense of closure.

Instead, Dyer had spent her life wondering if her brother’s remains would ever be found, identified and returned. She died with those questions still unanswered.

“It broke my heart that …” said Dyer’s daughter, Nita Kay Gay (who also goes by Nita Kay), pausing for composure.

“… It was emotional … the question was always lingering in her head … but, the job was done in both Barbara and Arthur’s honor.”

Not forgotten

Until his body was finally identified, Ervin was one of the thousands of military personnel still missing from World War II. Currently, the lost or unidentified totals more than 74,000, according to the the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

To put that number in perspective, it’s roughly equivalent to the population of Lakeville.

It’s a scale of loss much larger than those missing from other conflicts, including more than 5,000 from the Korean War and more than 1,500 from the Vietnam War.

While some of the lost will likely never get to come home — such as those who died at sea — there are many whose remains have been identified in recent times, especially thanks to technological advances.

In Ervin’s case, the doggedness of volunteer researchers and the persistence of family members were also key in moving the process along to finally bring this Marine home.

With these combined efforts, Ervin became one of the 166 service members identified during the fiscal year of 2022. In 2023, 158 were accounted for; during this fiscal year, which ends in September, 109 more people have had their missing cases resolved, according to the DPAA, which is tasked with accounting for the lost.

“There are so many missing from wars and conflicts, our job is unfortunately never going to be done,” said Sean Everette, a spokesperson for the DPAA. “But we will never give up trying to find them and bring them back home to their families.”

A researcher’s personal connection

It was Ervin’s case that led Geoffrey Roecker of Glen Falls, N.Y., to found Missing Marines, an award-winning and incredibly detailed initiative and website (missingmarines.com) dedicated to preserving the stories of missing service members.

“I’ve been at it since 2011,” Roecker said.

His initiative also provides research support to multiple MIA recovery organizations and to families hoping to learn about their military ancestors.

This includes the family of Ervin, who shared a connection with one of Roecker’s ancestors: Ervin’s platoon leader, 1st Lt. Philip Emerson Wood Jr., is Roecker’s first cousin, twice removed.

Nita Kay holds a photo and the dog tags of her uncle, World War II U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Arthur B. Ervin, at her home in Chisago City. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“Geoff deserves a lot of credit,” said Kay. “This never would have been resolved without his help.”

“She downplays her role, but she did a ton of work,” Roecker replied of Kay.

Kay’s uncle and Roecker’s cousin were friends as well as comrades; friends and comrades who died together.

In July of 1944, Ervin and Wood were members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, which the DPAA describes as part of the invasion force of the island of Saipan in a larger effort to capture the Mariana Islands from Japan.

From his research, Roecker learned that the Marines were trying to rescue displaced civilians on July 5, 1944. But then, Lt. Wood was hit by a sniper.

As Wood, mortally wounded, cried out, Ervin rushed forward to help him — and, while doing so, was fatally shot by enemy fire.

“He was likely dead before he hit the ground,” Roecker wrote on Missing Marines.

But what happened to Ervin’s body?

That’s been the question that Roecker spent 11 years trying to answer.

X-64

“Sgt. Ervin’s case is a particularly weird one,” Roecker said recently.

He mused about the mystery in a blog post on Memorial Day 2018.

“Arthur Ervin was buried without any means of identification,” he wrote. “Through a clerical error or simple incompetence, he was listed as ‘missing,’ his remains declared ‘unknown,’ and buried under an anonymous stone in Manila.”

Roecker credits a fellow researcher, Ted Darcy, who helped him locate the site in 2011. It seemed like a relatively simple case to crack, given all that was already known about the battle, the dead and the buried.

“He said, ‘I think we can solve this one right away,’” Roecker recalled.

Not quite.

But, Roecker says, after an investigation including dental records, diagrams, data and DNA, it was believed that an unidentified service member known as X-64 was Ervin.

DNA

Barbara (Meek) Dyer, circa 1958. (Courtesy of Nita Kay.)

He wasn’t X-64 to Dyer; to her, he was “Big Brother.”

Technically, they were half-siblings: Their mother, a widow, was raising her three sons — including Arthur — on her own before remarrying and having two more children, including Barbara Dyer.

Dyer was just 7 years old when “Big Brother” enlisted in the military from their then-home state of Texas in June 1940, according to Missing Marines; by October, he had joined the Marine detachment of the Naval Air Station, Pearl Harbor.

Dyer was 11 when her family learned her brother had been killed in action. She didn’t talk about the loss much, but in her later years, she renewed the search to bring Big Brother home.

“She was not so good with the internet, but she found out how to contact someone and they did send her a DNA kit,” Kay recalled.

Eventually, the family learned that a DNA sample from a male relative was needed; it took time to reach out — and convince — a male cousin in California to get involved, Kay says.

During their search for a conclusion, the family learned more about Ervin’s life as well as his death.

Nita Kay with her parents, Barbara and Royce Dyer, in 2017.  (Courtesy of Nita Kay)

“When I began helping my mother, a friend had found out about the Missing Marines site,” Kay said. “From it, I learned more about my mother’s family than she had ever told me.”

In fact, Ervin’s life story on the site — helped along with interviews, military records, family photographs, newspaper clippings and more — is as detailed as a novella, stretching back to describe the history of Ervin’s parents as well as his own backstory.

The story begins:

“Arthur B. Ervin, Junior was six months old when his father died in the mines …”

The effort inspired Kay.

“It was just amazing, all the information he had,” she said. “It motivated me to move forward.”

Through Missing Marines, the family learned how their Marine survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 — and how he matured during this time and was given a second chance after allegedly running afoul of the law.

“The day Pearl Harbor was attacked,” Kay wrote in an email to the Pioneer Press, “Arthur was in the brink and in the process of being dishonorably discharged. After volunteering to dig up bombs that had been dropped but didn’t yet explode, he had a follow-up court date. To his surprise, he was offered to join the Marines again based on his volunteerism and work ethics.

“He went on to earn two Purple Hearts and the Navy Gold Cross. Even a Good Behavior ribbon.”

During this long process of searching and researching, though, Kay’s mother died. Soon after, COVID-19 hit.

“The government pretty much shut down,” Kay said.

Finally

Geoffrey Roecker, Missing Marines founder and researcher, giving a eulogy during an interment ceremony for Sgt. Arthur Ervin Jr., held at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii, on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (Sgt. Edward Randolph / Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.)

The phone call that the family had been waiting for since 1944 — 78 years — finally came in 2022.

“They called and said, ‘We have a match,’” Kay recalled of the phone call from the military. “They said, ‘We’ve identified him.’”

Her reaction?

“I cried,” she said.

One of the first people she alerted was Roecker. He was also invited by the family to the funeral in Hawaii, which was held in October 2023.

Later, he wrote about it in a poem-like post on the Missing Marines page on Facebook:

Twenty-one shots rang out. Ospreys thundered overhead. Taps sounded.
(You can’t not tear up if the bugler knows what they’re doing,
and by god this one did.)

For about five minutes,
I told what I knew about Arthur.
It wasn’t everything. It will never be everything. But —
It was an ending.
Of a life story, and a life quest.

Arthur’s where he needs to be —
shouting distance, at least, from three who died with him;
Wood, Knight, and Hester.

And we who live,
who never thought this day would come,
enjoyed a day in the Hawaiian sun
with him.

A memory on a mantel

Royce Dyer and Barbara Dyer with their granddaughter, Lilly, in an undated photograph. (Courtesy of Nita Kay.)

On Friday — the 80th anniversary of Ervin’s death — his 13-year-old great-niece, Lilly, reflected on her family’s journey from Saipan to Chisago City to Honolulu:

“I felt honored to be part of Arthur’s funeral,” she said in a text message. “It was an amazing experience.

“I was also so happy to see Mom accomplish this. She worked for years trying to find Arthur for Grandma and often cried hitting roadblocks.

“I didn’t realize just how big this was until the actual funeral … to see someone buried as a hero and receive the honors he did was amazing.”

A shadow box at the home of Nita Kay in Chisago City on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, contains a U.S. flag and the awards of her uncle, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Arthur B. Ervin Jr., including the Purple Heart, with star to denote he died in combat, the Bronze Star and the Navy Cross. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Now some of those honors are framed in a shadow box, including a folded U.S. flag and Ervin’s military medals. The box is displayed on the fireplace mantel of the lake home where Kay lives with her husband and two of their children in Chisago City.

This home was also the homestead of Dyer and her late husband, who moved here after they retired, so it feels right to keep Ervin’s keepsakes in a prominent spot.

“She used to say, ‘I wonder if we’ll ever find out, I still wonder what happened to my brother,’” Kay said. “I’m glad we have closure, but I certainly wish it had happened before she passed.

“But I know they were reunited in Heaven.”

Related Articles

Letters: ‘Socialized’ medicine? No, the V.A. delivers ‘earned care’

Christina Rost named director of Ramsey County Veterans Services

Bill Thorness: We have always owed our soldiers more

One by one, a 94-year-old Bemidji veteran is cleaning Minnesota’s headstones

Biden says each generation has to ‘earn’ freedom, in solemn Memorial Day remarks

As we near the quarter-century mark, Hollywood keeps reaching back and drawing ideas from the 20th century, resurrecting “Top Gun,” “Bad Boys” and now “Beverly Hills Cop.” But while two of those blockbusters opened to big box office in theaters, “Beverly Hills Cop: Alex F” is premiering on Netflix. I won’t weigh in on whether the streamer is leaving money on the table — who can say? — but this is exactly the kind of summer popcorn movie that used to (and maybe still does) motivate people to head out to the cineplex.

Instead, this is strictly a living room affair. Eddie Murphy returns in the fourth installment of the franchise as the playful and authority-thwarting Detroit detective Axel Foley, who makes his way back to the sunny climes of Los Angeles when his daughter’s life is threatened. Her name is Jane and she’s a defense attorney (played by “Zola’s” Taylour Paige) who is working a murder case tied to police corruption. The repercussions for taking this client are swift, as she soon finds her car — with her in it — dangling off the side of a parking garage.

Billy (Judge Reinhold), Axel’s pal from the old days, recently left the police department because he too had similar concerns about in-house misconduct. Taggart, his one-time partner (John Ashton), is now the chief and he’s reluctant to believe any of his guys are up to no good. So Billy goes out on his own as a private detective. And he’s the one that gets Jane into this mess. Naturally, he makes a call to Axel. “I’m on the next plane out there,” comes the reply.

It’s worth stepping back to compare this sequel to the 1984 original, because it is directly referenced over and over again, starting with the opening credits. Same music — Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On” — and a similar montage of everyday Detroit life. In both movies, this will be the most Black people to appear on screen during the entire running time.

Is Axel still driving that 1970 Chevy Nova from the original? (Squints) Looks close enough. Once again, the opening set piece has Axel hoping to bust some crooks, resulting in a chase. Once again, it ends with a boss unhappy with the chaos that ensued. Arriving on the West Coast, once again Axel finds himself arrested by the Beverly Hills Police Department, where he eventually convinces everyone that this cop from Detroit knows what he’s talking about, even if it involves some rule-breaking. In the original, it was two straight-laced detectives in suits and ties (Billy and Taggart) rolling their eyes at Axel’s antics; now that narrative function is filled by one guy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

Guess where Axel stays? Guess. Once again, it’s the Beverly Palms (the fictional hotel played by Millennium Biltmore). That $235 a night room in the original is now going for $940, which outpaces inflation by a couple hundred bucks, but who’s counting? Bronson Pinchot is back as Serge, he of the unplaceable accent and mangling of names. Once again, the movie culminates with a shootout at some jerk’s mansion, where Axel saves the day, but not before getting winged.

Martin Brest directed the first movie and he had a slim resume at the time. Similarly, “Axel F” is the feature film debut of director Mark Molloy, an Australian who comes from the world of commercials. (He took over when directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah left to focus on “Batgirl,” the movie Warner Bros. killed last year, even though it was already in the can. Hollywood twists of fate are not for the fainthearted.)

The screenplay is from Will Beall (a former LAPD detective-turned-screenwriter whose credits include “Aquaman”), Kevin Etten (who has a background in comedy as a writer for David Letterman as well as “Workaholics” and “Scrubs”) and Tom Gormican (who co-wrote and directed the recent Nicolas Cage movie “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”). You’d think the comedy bona fides here would give the script some punch, but nothing even close to “banana in the tailpipe” will be entering the lexicon this time out. In place of memorable dialogue, more chase scenes. At least they involve unique vehicles: a snow plow, a helicopter, an urban utility buggy used by parking enforcement.

The writers have also devised not one, not two, but three major events to terrorize Jane — the aforementioned car-dangling, an assassination attempt on both her and Axel in the streets of Beverly Hills, and being kidnapped and held at gunpoint. One of these would have been enough. An action comedy can support only so much violence and suspension of disbelief before it curdles.

The original movie was a marvel of storytelling economy fueled by Axel’s loose-limbed ability to morph into different characters depending on the needs of the moment. I always imagined him as the smart kid and class clown who had turned those skills to his advantage outmaneuvering bad guys. The premise works because the films are a series of set pieces that move the plot along, yes, but also give Murphy a chance to play and riff. He’s the master of the jocular comeback. A year after the first movie came out, “Fletch” was in theaters starring Chevy Chase and there’s a similarity there: Both star “Saturday Night Live” alum using their comedic chops in the service of a crime story.

But is the new movie any good, I hear you asking. It’s … alright-ish? Perfectly fine, even. Murphy might be one of the most talented performers of any generation and it’s thrilling to see him back in the role that turned him into a movie star. The supporting players seemingly exist only to exchange lines with the leading man, but there is immense joy in watching Murphy use his wits rather than violence to get out of a sticky situation. When he stumbles upon some thugs rifling through Billy’s office, the film doesn’t expect him to take them on single handed. Instead, he comes up with a distraction, then runs.

But too often the new film traps the character in amber. He launches into one of his phony personalities and then he stops himself; he’s too tired for this nonsense. I wish there was more of that. A guy in his 60s might be over some of the shenanigans he pulled in his 20s. Axel doesn’t complain about his knees or his back or carry reading glasses and there’s not a gray hair on his head. I like that the script doesn’t play into the typical tropes about aging, but he’s operating more or less the same as he always did, rather than a guy who’s learned a few things along the way.

Ultimately the film functions as an elbow to the ribs: “Remember this? Remember how fun it was?”

Within the first 10 minutes, the needle drops include not only “The Heat Is On” but also Bob Seger’s “Take Down” (from the second movie) just to situate us firmly within the BHC sonic universe. By minute 11, we get a few bars of the familiar electronic instrumental track “Axel F” just to underscore the point. The nostalgia doesn’t stop there. The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance” accompanies yet another chase and you realize the movie is tapping into every melodic sense memory it has at its disposal. And why not? I’m not complaining. I like this music. But the reprise of it all is a conspicuous and intentional stoking of affection for the original in the hopes that audiences will associate the movie with a better one that came out 40 years ago.

‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’

2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language throughout, violence and brief drug use)

Running time: 1:55

How to watch: Netflix

Related Articles

‘MaXXXine’ review: A porn star goes Hollywood as Ti West’s horror trilogy ends with a thud

Eddie Murphy reprises famous role in ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’

Movie review: ‘Despicable Me 4’ fun for kids, nightmare for adults

What to stream: Dive into earlier movies of scream queen Mia Goth

Q&A: Class and social status in the kitchen and ‘The Bear’

Minnesota United at L.A. Galaxy

When: 9:30 p.m. Central Time on Sunday
Where: Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, Calif.
Stream: Apple TV Season Pass
Radio: KSTP-AM 1500 ESPN
Weather: 73 degrees, partly sunny, 8 mph east wind
Betting line: Galaxy minus-170; draw plus-340; MNUFC plus-360

Series history: The Loons came from behind for a 2-2 draw with L.A. on May 15 at Allianz Field. They are 3-7-5 against the glitzy club since joining MLS in 2017.

Form: MNUFC (8-8-5, 29 points) has lost a club-record five straight MLS games. Galaxy (11-4-7, 40 points) had won four in a row before a 2-1 loss to crosstown rival LAFC at Rose Bowl Stadium on Wednesday.

Absences: Dayne St. Clair, Tani Oluwaseyi and Carlos Harvey (international duties) are out. Hugo Bacharach (knee), Clint Irwin (groin) and Wil Trapp (hamstring) are also out. Teemu Pukki (knee) is probable.

Projected XI: In a 5-2-3 formation, LW Sang Bin Jeong, CF Teemu Pukki, RW Bongi Hlongwane; CM Hassani Dotson, CM Robin Lod; LWB Joseph Rosales, CB Devin Padelford, CB Micky Tapias, CB Michael Boxall, RWB DJ Taylor; GK Alec Smir.

Check-in: With Canada’s win over Venezuela in Copa America on Friday, the Loons top goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and leading scorer Tani Oluwaseyi will remain away from MNUFC through the Houston match on July 13.

If Canada would have lost in Texas, the plan was for the pair to fly to L.A., maybe in time to train Saturday and play in match Sunday. Instead, MNUFC remains without two of its best players.

Player to watch: Galaxy midfielder Riqui Puig is a menace. Going into the weekend, the 5-foot-6 Spaniard leads MLS in passes into the final third (200), progressive carrying distance (4,324) and fouls drawn (51), per FBref.com.

Another player to watch: Pukki scored twice for Finland against Portugal on June 4, but hurt his knee in the next friendly against Scotland and missed all five losses in the Loons’ current skid.

Without him and Oluwaseyi, the Loons have been using wingers as strikers and success has been scant. Pukki will help tie together the formation, but finding the net in MLS has been a struggle for him, too. He hasn’t scored across 12 league games since March 9.

Scouting report: L.A. is fourth in MLS with 42 goals this season and four players have scored six or more. MNUFC continues to have a leaky defense with at least three goals allowed in three of its last four matches.

Question: United’s front office is “really active” in preparing for the summer transfer window and the goal is to bring in a multiple players. Given the skid, they need help immediately, but will the newcomers be available to play ASAP when fist eligible on July 20?

Prediction: The Loons defense has been porous, while the Galaxy offense has been a problem (for others). L.A. is 6-1-3 at home, while Minnesota hasn’t won away from St. Paul since May 4. Everything points to another lopsided Loon loss, 3-1.