Marines from the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.

Marines from the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. (8th and I), the United States Marine Band, "The President's Own”, and the 3d US Infantry Regiment (Old Guard) Caisson Platoon participate in the full honors repatriation of U.S. Marine Corps Pvt. Edwin W. Jordan, 17, in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, April 9, 2018.
In November 1943, Jordan was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which attempted to secure the island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands from a strong Japanese resistance. The battle lasted several days, with approximately 1000 Marines and Sailors killed, but the Japanese were defeated. Jordan died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943.
Initially, after the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. In 1946 and 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio Island (but Jordan’s remains were not recovered). On Feb. 28, 1949, a military review board declared Jordan’s remains non-recoverable.
In July 2017, through a partnership with History Flight Inc., the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) used advanced investigative techniques to locate further areas believed to contain the remains of men buried on Tarawa. These remains were then sent to a laboratory for analysis. Scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological and chest radiographic comparison analysis to identify Jordan’s remains, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
Jordan’s nephew, Robert D. Jordan, received the American flag from his casket.
(U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)