Marines from Marine Corps Barracks 8th & I escort the

Marines from Marine Corps Barracks 8th & I escort the remains of Marine Corps Pfc. Harold V. Thomas, 21, of Columbus, Ohio, during Thomas’ funeral, May 7, 2017. Thomas, who was accounted for on Nov. 7, 2016. In November 1943, Thomas was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Thomas died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943. He was recently identified through anthropological analysis and returned to his family for burial with full military honors. (U.S. Army Photos by Sgt. 1st Class Kristen Duus, DPAA)