Harold Hammett
Sergeant Harold “Harper” Hammett served with Baker Company, First Battalion, 2nd Marines.
He was reported missing in action at Betio, Tarawa atoll, on 20 November 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 293615
Current Status
Accounted For
as of 23 September 2023
Recovery Organization
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
February 16, 1919
at Hattiesburg, MS
Parents
Emry Holmes Hammett, Sr.
Eva (Sharp) Hammett
Education
Petal Consolidated High School (1939)
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
August 26, 1940
at San Francisco, CA
Home Of Record
111 Briarfield Apartments
Hattiesburg, MS
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Eva Hammett
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
B/1/2nd Marines
Campaigns Served
Guadalcanal
Tarawa
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Sergeant Hammett served with Company B, First Battalion, 2nd Marines during the invasion of Tarawa. His battalion constituted the regimental reserve, and was ordered to land against heavy opposition at Beach Red 2 on the morning of 20 November 1943.
Many of the lading vehicles were “Alligator” LVTs – ponderously slow, lightly armored vehicles – which had already made several trips to the beach. Japanese gunfire and mechanical strain disabled or sank many in the water; when this happened, the men aboard had to wade ashore as best they could. Those who managed to ride all the way to the beach weathered a storm of bullets and shells from the moment they jumped from their vehicles.
Harold Hammett was last seen on Beach Red 2, disembarking from an LVT while under fire. When the survivors of his company regrouped to continue the advance, the sergeant was not present. Nothing more could be learned of his whereabouts, and he was reported as missing in action.
Hammett’s remains were not identified in the aftermath of the battle, and he was ultimately declared dead effective 20 November 1943.
Burial Information or Disposition
After the battle, a memorial marker was erected in Cemetery 33, Grave 4, Row 1, Plot 10.
Sergeant Hammett’s unidentified remains were buried in West Division Cemetery (later known as “Cemetery 11“). In 1946, he was exhumed from his waterlogged resting place, examined by the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company, and reburied in Lone Palm Cemetery Plot 3, Row 3, Grave 6. “Unknown X-247” was next shipped to the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii – where trained anthropologists also failed to establish his identification. For nearly 80 years, he lay in an unknown’s grave in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Plot E, Grave 634.
In 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) ordered the exhumation of unidentified Tarawa casualties from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Five years later, Harold Hammett was identified as X-247.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Eva Hammett.
Location Of Loss
Sergeant Hammett was last seen disembarking from an LVT at Beach Red 2.
His remains have been found. He will be returned to Mississippi to be buried with his family 02/16/2024
https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3671973/marine-accounted-for-from-wwii-hammett-h/
Hammett’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific along with the others still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hammett will be buried in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on Feb 16, 2024.
He was my uncle I would like to thank everyone for the return of his remains. I am so proud to be his nephew. He received a hero welcome and his hometown support was overwhelming