U.S. Marines unload the remains of 36 unidentified Marines found at a World War II battlefield during a ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Sunday, July 26, 2015, in Honolulu.
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A ceremony was held Sunday in Pearl Harbor to mark their return.
“Today provides for us the opportunity to bring home some Marines who were lost here during the Battle of Tarawa over 70 years ago”, said Maj.
Once identification is complete, the remains will be returned to families for burial with full military honours.
After being recovered on a remote Pacific island, the remains of 39 U.S. Marines killed in World War II are finally returning to the United States.
About 520 U.S. servicemen are still unaccounted for from the battle, according to the Associated Press story.
More than 1,000 Marines were killed in the Battle of Tarawa, which was fought over three days in November 1943.
The battle was marked by some of the bloodiest scenes in the war, which saw American soldiers shot down by machine gun fire from the Japanese after their boats became entrenched on the reef by the low tide. Americans who made it to the beach faced brutal hand-to-hand combat.
So far, 1st Lt. Alexander J.
“It was also the first contested landing against a heavily fortified enemy and a turning point in the development in our amphibious capability”.
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Crews of scientists, historians, and surveyors from the non-profit History Flight have combed through Tarawa for the past decade. The Marathon, Florida-based organization used ground-penetrating radar, reviewed thousands of military documents and interviewed veterans to narrow down possible grave sites.
