World War II sergeant laid to rest 80 years after his death in battle

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM/Gray News) - A sergeant from Mississippi was finally laid to rest 80 years after his death in World War II.

Sergeant Harold Hammett left Hattiesburg for San Francisco in 1940.

Hammett later enlisted in the Marine Corps and became one among thousands who were sent to the South Pacific during World War II.

By 1943, Hammett was a member of the 2nd Marine Division when U.S. forces landed on the Island of Betio, according to Hammett’s cousin, Roger White.

“They were island-jumping, trying to get closer to Tokyo because they were thinking it was going to be a land invasion because the Japanese wouldn’t give up,” White said.

The ensuing battle, later known as the Battle of Tarawa, claimed thousands of lives. Hammett, 24 years old at the time, was the first to be killed on Nov. 20, 1943. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal.

His family in Hattiesburg was notified a month later, according to another of Hammett’s cousins, Dwayne Williams.

“They got the word around Christmas Eve, so it wasn’t a very good Christmas,” Williams said.

Hammett’s remains were declared non-recoverable until they were found and buried at Hawaii’s National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the “Punchbowl.”

In 2018, White and his family were encouraged to submit DNA to confirm their relation to Hammett.

The family was informed of the match in late 2023. They were amazed at what they saw.

“The body was basically 85% intact,” White said. “We saw what the cadaver looked like, and he was missing his entire left shoulder and hand.”

Williams said the family’s celebration of life was beyond fit for a man whose legacy couldn’t be forgotten.

“My grandfather always said he wanted him to be buried next to him, and right beside him, in between my grandfather and grandmother, is a plot,” Williams said. “That is where he’s going to be buried.”

Hammett was buried at Roseland Park Cemetery in Hattiesburg.

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