Marine Corps SGT Harold Hammett, 24, killed in World War II, was finally returned to his family and, on February 16, 2024, laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors (262208274).
Born February 16, 1919, in Avery, Mississippi, Harold was the fifth of eight children blessed to the union of Emry Holmes "E. H." and Eva Jane (nee Sharp) Hammett.
Harold graduated with East Forrest Consolidated High School's class of '39 and was a member of the Carterville Baptist Church.
Harold enlisted in the Marine Corps in San Francisco, California on August 26, 1940, and was sent to the South Pacific in July 1942.
He was in the Battle on Tulagi and in several major battles on Guadalcanal. After being wounded, he was hospitalized in New Zealand and then awaited orders for his next mission.
Sergeant Hammett was with his brothers in Bravo Company, 1st Battalion of the 2nd Marines (B-1/2) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 20, 1943 (D-Day for the "Battle of Tarawa"), when young Harold - just 24 years old - perished. Hammett is believed to have fallen while his unit attempted to secure Red Beach 2. He was reportedly soon buried on Betio Island - a temporary location chosen by his fellow Marines, the survivors of the battle, until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son or husband off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Harold's family accepted the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation.
With his parents, also left to mourn his passing were his siblings; including his brother, PFC Emry H. Hammett Jr. who was stationed with the Marines in Honolulu at the time. He had been in the service since October 1942; and Harold's grandparents; R. L. "Rufus" Sharp and Mrs. Annie (nee Edmonson) Sharp, and L. D "Dad" Hammett.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa at Lone Palm Cemetery for later repatriation. However, almost half of the known casualties were never found. No recovered remains could be associated with Hammett, and, in November 1949, a Board of Review declared him "non-recoverable." Unknown remains designated X-247 were recovered from Cemetery 11, along with Unknown X-251. Initially these remains were considered to possibly belong to Sgt. Hammett, but at the time an association could not be made. The remains recovered were interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Hawaii.
Harold's family had a memorial marker placed in hopes that one day he would be found and returned home. His parents would later be laid to rest next to this marker - its empty ground still offering no closure.
On January 20, 2013, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of SGT Hammett and provided their contact information to the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Harold's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered his sister Joan and her daughter the opportunity to provide the Family Reference DNA Sample ultimately necessary for his identification.
In late 2017, X-247 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis and identification.
To identify Hammett's remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis using an FRS submitted in 2018.
Harold was finally returned to his family and, on what would've been his 105th birthday, laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors (262208274).
Marine Corps Sergeant Harold Hammett is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing".
SOURCE
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Personnel Profile
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Marine Corps SGT Harold Hammett, 24, killed in World War II, was finally returned to his family and, on February 16, 2024, laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors (262208274).
Born February 16, 1919, in Avery, Mississippi, Harold was the fifth of eight children blessed to the union of Emry Holmes "E. H." and Eva Jane (nee Sharp) Hammett.
Harold graduated with East Forrest Consolidated High School's class of '39 and was a member of the Carterville Baptist Church.
Harold enlisted in the Marine Corps in San Francisco, California on August 26, 1940, and was sent to the South Pacific in July 1942.
He was in the Battle on Tulagi and in several major battles on Guadalcanal. After being wounded, he was hospitalized in New Zealand and then awaited orders for his next mission.
Sergeant Hammett was with his brothers in Bravo Company, 1st Battalion of the 2nd Marines (B-1/2) when they landed on Betio as part of Operation: GALVANIC. The mission of the 2nd Marine Division was to secure the island in order to control the Japanese airstrip in the Tarawa Atoll; thereby preventing the Japanese Imperial forces from getting closer to the United States, and enabling US forces to get closer to mainland Japan. It would become one of the bloodiest battles in the Corps history.
It was November 20, 1943 (D-Day for the "Battle of Tarawa"), when young Harold - just 24 years old - perished. Hammett is believed to have fallen while his unit attempted to secure Red Beach 2. He was reportedly soon buried on Betio Island - a temporary location chosen by his fellow Marines, the survivors of the battle, until the Fallen could be recovered and returned to their families.
Having a loved one away from home during the holidays is always trying; however, having a son or husband off fighting in the war left the whole family on edge. The fact that this battle took place just before Thanksgiving meant that most of the families, who had unknowingly earned their Gold Star, would receive their heart-wrenching telegrams on Christmas Eve – some Christmas Day or even New Years Day.
For his service and sacrifice, Harold's family accepted the Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation.
With his parents, also left to mourn his passing were his siblings; including his brother, PFC Emry H. Hammett Jr. who was stationed with the Marines in Honolulu at the time. He had been in the service since October 1942; and Harold's grandparents; R. L. "Rufus" Sharp and Mrs. Annie (nee Edmonson) Sharp, and L. D "Dad" Hammett.
Despite the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces, military success in the battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.
In 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company centralized all of the American remains found on Tarawa at Lone Palm Cemetery for later repatriation. However, almost half of the known casualties were never found. No recovered remains could be associated with Hammett, and, in November 1949, a Board of Review declared him "non-recoverable." Unknown remains designated X-247 were recovered from Cemetery 11, along with Unknown X-251. Initially these remains were considered to possibly belong to Sgt. Hammett, but at the time an association could not be made. The remains recovered were interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Hawaii.
Harold's family had a memorial marker placed in hopes that one day he would be found and returned home. His parents would later be laid to rest next to this marker - its empty ground still offering no closure.
On January 20, 2013, Jennifer Morrison, an independent volunteer forensic genealogist, found the family of SGT Hammett and provided their contact information to the Marine Corps POW/MIA Section. This (re)established lines of communication with Harold's family regarding the ongoing recovery and repatriation efforts, and offered his sister Joan and her daughter the opportunity to provide the Family Reference DNA Sample ultimately necessary for his identification.
In late 2017, X-247 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis and identification.
To identify Hammett's remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis using an FRS submitted in 2018.
Harold was finally returned to his family and, on what would've been his 105th birthday, laid to rest - in American soil - with full military honors (262208274).
Marine Corps Sergeant Harold Hammett is memorialized among the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific's Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed within Court 4 of the "Courts of the Missing".
SOURCE
Marine Corps POW/MIA Section
DPAA Personnel Profile
American Battle Monuments Commission
Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist
Inscription
HAMMETT HAROLD
SERGEANT • USMC • CALIFORNIA
Gravesite Details
The rosette placed next to his name indicates he has been accounted for.
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