Mississippi marine from World War II identified
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Marine Corps Sgt. Harold Hammett, killed during World War II, was accounted for on September 25, 2023.
Sgt. Hammett was born in Avery, Mississippi and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1940.
He was fighting on the island of Betio in the Gilbert Islands, where over 1000 marines and sailors were killed.
Sgt. Hammett is believed to have been killed while his unit attempted to secure Red Beach 2 on November 20, 1943.
His remains were not identified after the war.
The Quartermaster Graves Registration Company declared Hammett ‘non-recoverable’ in November 1949.
Remains identified as Unknown X-247 were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.
In late 2017, the remains were disinterred from the cemetery and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis and identification.
To identify Hammett’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Hammett’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific – a rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
He will be buried in Hattiesburg on February 16.
