"Private First Class George H. Traver 1943, killed in action and buried at Tarawa.”
"Traver was killed Nov. 20, 1943 when Marines attempted to secure the island from the Japanese. Over several days of intense fighting, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, according to the Defense Department. Traver died sometime on the first day of the battle.
The mass grave contained the remains of 35 fallen Marines. It was discovered by the Florida-based group History Flight.
"His mother lived to be 90-years-old and right up until her dying day she was hoping to hear something about George and get him back,” relative Al Wheeler told WNYT. “She tried and tried. Never happened."
The family is now planning a second funeral for Aug. 28 in Chatham.
The first one in 1944 was called off when the remains were not found, the station reported.
The headstone in the Chatham Rural Cemetery reads: "Private First Class George H. Traver 1943, killed in action and buried at Tarawa.”
George Traver said the said the upcoming funeral service won't only about his uncle.
“This is for all the other families that have lost their men and stuff,” he told the station. “And I think if my uncle was here he’d say the same thing.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report."
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