Remains of 24 US servicemen recovered from WWII battlefield

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | July 28, 2017

[artichokegrower]

The remains of what are believed to be 24 American servicemen killed on a Pacific island during World War II have been returned to the U.S. for identification.

The Pentagon says a U.S. military aircraft carrying flag-draped coffins arrived this week at Hawaii's Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

[artichokegrower]

Welcome Marines.

[artichokegrower]

I mean welcome home Marines

[Fiddlstix]

Ditto

[McGavin999]

Welcome home

[colorado tanker]

Found on Tarawa. Damn tough fight.

[17th Miss Regt]

Welcome home, Marines.

Ditto. But color me surprised. That island in not very big and the Chinese put some installation on it about 20 years back. I am surprised that these folks were allowed on the island.

[Bonemaker]

Any fight against the Japanese in WW11 was a miserable bitchof a fight.

[A_Former_Democrat]

Unlike John McCain, these men are true American heroes

[jmaroneps37]

A Brooklyn Marine was just ID ed using DNA from a grand niece last week and a friend who is a WW II Marine himself had the wake at his funeral home.

[jmaroneps37]

A Brooklyn Marine was just ID ed using DNA from a grand niece last week and a friend who is a WW II Marine himself had the wake at his funeral home.

[southernindymom]

Glad that they are finally coming home

[yarddog]

A year or so back a soldier from WWII was returned to my hometown.

He died of disease in a German POW camp and the Germans held a funeral for him including a headstone. For some reason his family just assumed it was propaganda and that he was in a mass grave.

It turned out that he really was buried where the Germans said.

[FreedomPoster]

Across The Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa by Joseph H. Alexander
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48836

Folio history of around 100 pages IIRC, commissioned by the Marines immediately post-WWII. Worthwhile. Free. There are several others available on the site. Guadalcanal, Wake, etc.

[4yearlurker]

My late father in law was a island hopping Marine in WW2. He rarely talked about it. One night he came for a visit and I had bought him a bottle of his favorite scotch. (I cant remember the brand name) He started in with story after story and I sat there riveted and kept my mouth shut. He smoked his pipe and sipped his Scotch and told of the time his Marine unit killed the Jap POWs when they brought them out in the yard for exercise. He looked at me and said "We took no prisoners!" He said the Japs were absolutely brutal ans so were the Marines.

[Bonemaker]

RIP marines.

[Bonemaker]

God bless your father. We need the same spirit now.

[Bonemaker]

God bless your father. We need the same spirit now.

[PAR35]

The southern islands look pretty well built out, but there does look to be some undeveloped areas north and west of the airport.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

You may find this interesting:

http://gravestonecollector.blogspot.com/2014/10/wwii-german-and-italian-soldiers-buried.html

[yarddog]

I can’t recall the entire story but an American tourist happened to see the headstone and recognized the name.

They contacted the family and records showed that it was his grave and they returned the remains to Florida.