A non-profit group in Florida has discovered the remains of what are believed to be 24 American servicemen killed on a Pacific island during World War II.
History Flight says its members discovered the remains during excavations on Tarawa, Hawaii, in the Gilbert Islands. A press release Wednesday said the POW/MIA remains are of long-missing U.S. personnel from the November 20, 1943, Battle of Tarawa and its aftermath on Betio Island.
The Pentagon says a U.S. military aircraft carrying flag-draped coffins arrived this week at Hawaii's Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to return and identify the remains.
Nearly 1,000 Marines and 30 sailors were killed during the assault on the Japanese-held atoll.
History Flight previously recovered the remains of 35 Marines in 2015.
The group says the two recoveries are some of the largest for U.S. battlefield remains since the Korean War.The latest group of remains will be examined at a forensic laboratory on Oahu.