Nation & World News
Fallen Marines make final trip home
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More than 70 years after their final battle, the remains of 36 Marines have been returned to U.S. soil.
History Flight recovered the remains from a remote area in the Pacific called Tarawa, The Associated Press reported.
More than 990 Marines and 30 sailors died during the three-day battle in 1943 when their boats got stuck on the reef at low tide. Those who made it to shore had to fight in hand-to hand combat against the Japanese military.
Only 17 or the 3,500 Japanese soldiers survived.
The U.S. dead were quickly buried after the fight, but their final resting places were disturbed as the Navy built a landing strip for their next attack on their path to Tokyo during World War II.
About 520 U.S. servicemen are still unaccounted for.
History Flight is identifying the remains with the POW/MIA Accounting Agency, finishing the mission to return the remains to family after they have been identified, The Associated Press reported.
A ceremony was held Sunday in Pearl Harbor to mark their return to the U.S.
So far, 1st Lt. Alexander J. Bonnyman, Jr. has been identified. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
