From Feb. 20,2024, WECT News (WDAM News Hattiesburg, Ms.) by Jay Harrison and Andrew McMunn.
Sergeant Harold Hammett, USMC, left Hattiesburg for San Francisco in 1940 and later enlisted in the Marine Corps. Thousands like him were sent to fight in the South Pacific. In 1943, as a member of the 2nd Marine Division, he landed on the Japanese-held island of Betio
The ensuing fight, called the Battle of Tarawa claimed thousands of lives, including that of Hammett who was just 24 years old at the time and was one of the first killed. His family was notified a month later.
His remains were declared non-recoverable until they were found recently in Hawaii's National Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the "Punchbowl."
Using DNA, his family was found. This past week, he was reinterred at Roseland Park Cemetery in Hattiesburg.
I am so glad our government makes this identification effort. --GreGen
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