United States

Unidentified Remains to Be Identified by US Military, Forensic Anthropologists

The remains were found during excavations on Tarawa, in the Gilbert Islands

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.

Hawaii-Remains-Military-072517
Petty Officer 2nd Class Claire Farin

History Flight, a Florida-based nonprofit group, says its members discovered the remains during excavations on Tarawa, in the Gilbert Islands.

Nearly 1,000 Marines and 30 sailors were killed during the assault on the Japanese-held atoll in November 1943.

History Flight recovered the remains of 35 Marines in 2015. The group says the two recoveries are some of the largest for U.S. battlefield remains since the Korean War.

As NBC 7’s Dave Summers reports, a Lake Murray family hopes someone can help find a hit and run driver who struck Ronald Barrios just two days after Thanksgiving.

The latest group of remains will be examined at a forensic laboratory on Oahu.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us