Current:Home > MarketsSgt. Harold Hammett died in WWII. 80 years later, the Mississippi Marine will be buried.-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Sgt. Harold Hammett died in WWII. 80 years later, the Mississippi Marine will be buried.
View Date:2024-12-24 09:34:00
A Mississippi Marine killed in World War II will have a final resting place more than 80 years after his death.
The remains of 24-year-old Marine Corps Sgt. Harold Hammett of Hattiesburg have been accounted for and will be returned to Mississippi for burial, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced.
Hammett will be buried Friday, on what would have been his 105th birthday, at Roseland Park Cemetery in Hattiesburg following a graveside service.
Who was Sgt. Harold Hammett?
Hammett was the fifth of eight children born to Emry Holmes "E. H." Hammett and Eva Jane Sharp Hammett.
Hammett graduated high school in 1939 and enlisted in the Marine Corps in August 1940, in San Francisco. He was sent to the South Pacific in July 1942 and was in the Battle of Tarawa, DPAA reported, and in several major battles on Guadalcanal, according to his obituary. After being wounded, he was hospitalized in New Zealand, where he awaited orders for his next mission.
Hammett was in Bravo Company, 1st Battalion of the 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division when the team landed on the island of Betio as part of Operation Galvanic, seeking to secure the island in the Tarawa Atoll.
Over several days of fighting against Japanese forces, roughly 1,000 Marines and sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, DPAA reported. Hammett was killed on Nov. 20, 1943. His body was believed to be buried on Betio Island by survivors of the battle. His remains were only recently identified.
Without a body to bury, Hammett’s family erected a memorial marker next to where his parents also were buried.
His remains are expected to arrive at Hulett-Winstead Funeral Home in Hattiesburg before they are taken to the cemetery for burial.
The Patriot Guard Riders will escort Hammett’s remains to the cemetery where a graveside service will include full military honors.
Hammett was awarded the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation for his service.
At the time of his death, Hammett's survivors included his seven siblings, including brother PFC Emry H. Hammett Jr., who was stationed with the Marines in Honolulu at the time, and his grandparents; R. L. "Rufus" Sharp and Mrs. Annie Edmonson Sharp, and L. D "Dad" Hammett.
USA TODAY Reporter Krystal Nurse contributed. Reporter Lici Beveridge can be reached at [email protected] or on X @licibev .
veryGood! (5228)
Related
- Video ‘bares’ all: Insurers say bear that damaged luxury cars was actually a person in a costume
- 'They bought some pretty good players': Kentucky's Mark Stoops on NIL after Georgia loss
- Grand and contentious, the world's largest Hindu temple is opening in New Jersey
- Powerball jackpot reaches historic $1.55 billon. What to know about Monday's drawing.
- 2025 NFL mock draft: QBs Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward crack top five
- Congo orders regional peacekeepers to leave by December
- New Mexico governor defends approach to attempted gun restrictions, emergency order on gun violence
- Voters in Iowa community to decide whether to give City Council more control over library books
- 2025 NFL mock draft: QBs Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward crack top five
- Audit recommended University of North Carolina mandate training that could mitigate shootings
Ranking
- Study finds Wisconsin voters approved a record number of school referenda
- Amazon October Prime Day 2023: Save $120 on This KitchenAid Mixer
- NY congressman says he would support bill linking Ukraine and Israel aid
- Sam Bankman-Fried thought he had 5% chance of becoming president, ex-girlfriend says
- Trump on Day 1: Begin deportation push, pardon Jan. 6 rioters and make his criminal cases vanish
- Birkenstock prices its initial public offering of stock valuing the sandal maker at $8.64 billion
- Review: Daniel Radcliffe’s ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ is as close to perfect as Broadway gets
- Gunmen abduct 4 students of northern Nigerian university, the third school attack in one month
Recommendation
-
Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Lemon quit X, formerly Twitter: 'Time for me to leave'
-
Sydney Sweeney, Alix Earle & More Stars Love This Laneige Lip Mask That's on Sale for Amazon Prime Day
-
Evacuations are underway in Argentina’s Cordoba province as wildfires grow amid heat wave
-
A spectacular solar eclipse will darken the sky Saturday. Will the one in April be better?
-
KFC sues Church's Chicken over 'original recipe' fried chicken branding
-
Raiders vs. Packers Monday Night Football highlights: Las Vegas ends three-game skid
-
Former Alabama lawmaker pleads guilty to voter fraud charge for using fake address to run for office
-
Amazon October Prime Day 2023 Alternatives: Shop Pottery Barn, Wayfair & More Sales