“The President’s Own” Marine Band; and Marines from

“The President’s Own” Marine Band; and Marines from the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. (8th and I) conduct military funeral honors with funeral escort for U.S. Marine Corps Pvt. Edwin Benson in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Nov. 19, 2019.
From the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) Press Release:
Benson, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Massachusetts, served with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division. Benson was killed in action by an enemy gunshot wound to the head during his unit's landing on Betio Island on November 20, 1943, during the Battle of Tarawa. He was buried on Betio Island at the time, but could not be identified from among the remains disinterred from the island after the war. In 2009, the non-profit organization History Flight located a communal burial site on Betio Island that was later identified as Cemetery 33, which prompted an investigation of all unidentified losses associated with the Tarawa Atoll, including Private Benson. In 2016, DPAA proposed the disinterment of Tarawa unknowns buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Hawaii. In 2017, DPAA analysts were able to use modern forensic techniques to identify Private Benson from among these remains.
On Aug. 9, 2019, the DPAA announced it has accounted for Pvt. Benson. Benson’s nephew, Edgar Argersinger, received the flag from his casket.
(U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser, Arlington National Cemetery)