Benjamin Ashford|Sgt. Harold Hammett died in WWII. 80 years later, the Mississippi Marine will be buried.

A Mississippi Marine killed in World War II will have Benjamin Ashforda 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 .