Several graves containing what are likely the remains of more than 30 U.S. Marines and sailors killed during one of the bloodiest battles of World War II were discovered on a remote Pacific island, officials said.
History Flight, a nonprofit organization that works to search for and identify the remains of U.S. servicemen who were lost in past conflicts, located a series of graves on the Pacific atoll of Tarawa in March that officials believe contain the remains of members of the 6th Marine Regiment killed on the final night of the Battle of Tarawa on Nov. 23, 1943.
President Mark Noah said the latest discovery is apart of a mission to recover the at least 270 missing remains which have yet to be found on the island.
More than 990 Marines and 30 soldiers were killed during the bloody battle after the U.S. launched an amphibious assault on the Japanese-occupied island some 2,300 miles southwest of Honolulu.
Many were killed when the boats became stuck on the shallow reefs at low tide while others who made it the shore died in brutal hand-to-hand combat. – READ MORE