
The U.S. military has brought back the remains of at least 20 servicemen killed in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II to Hawaii.

An Air Force cargo plane flew the remains from Tarawa atoll in the remote Pacific island nation of Kiribati to Hawaii on Wednesday. Marines carried flag-draped caskets off the plane for a ceremony.

The remains are among those discovered in March by History Flight, a nonprofit organization that searches for the remains of U.S. servicemen lost in past conflicts.

They are believed to belong to Marines and sailors from the 6th Marine Regiment who were killed during the last night of the three-day Battle of Tarawa. More than 6,000 Americans, Japanese and Koreans died in the battle.

U.S. Marines carry transfer cases holding the possible remains of unidentified service members lost in the Battle of Tarawa during World War II, during what is known as an honorable carry conducted by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), in a hangar at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii on Wednesday

A POW/MIA flag hangs over transfer cases carrying the remains of unidentified service members lost in the Battle of Tarawa during World War II, aboard an Air Force transport plane. The remains were recently recovered from the Republic of Kiribati and will be taken to a laboratory in Hawaii to begin the identification process

Service members and guests stand as Taps is played over transfer cases carrying the remains of unidentified service members lost in the Battle of Tarawa during World War II. More than 990 U.S. Marines and 30 U.S. sailors were killed in the 1943 Battle of Tarawa, after the U.S. launched an amphibious assault on the small island

Forensic anthropologists with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency will now work to identify the remains using dental records, DNA and other clues.

More than 990 U.S. Marines and 30 U.S. sailors were killed in the 1943 Battle of Tarawa, after the U.S. launched an amphibious assault on the small island some 2,300 miles southwest of Honolulu.

Marines and sailors quickly encountered Japanese machine-gun fire when their boats got stuck on the reef at low tide. Americans who made it to the beach faced brutal hand-to-hand combat.

The U.S. military buried its men in makeshift cemeteries where they had fallen. However Navy construction battalion sailors removed markers for these graves when they hurriedly built runways and other infrastructure to help U.S. forces push farther west across the Pacific toward Japan.

U.S. Marines march past transfer cases carrying the remains of unidentified service members lost in the Battle of Tarawa

Dr. James Anderson, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans and Capabilities, (left), U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Lewis Craparotta, (center), and Rear Admiral Jon Kreitz, deputy director for operations, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, (right), bow their heads for an invocation before transfer cases carrying the remains of unidentified service members

After finding service member remains, History Flight works with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the federal agency tasked with recovering the remains of missing US personnel.

Together they identify the fallen, and often arrange reburial in cooperation with living relatives and descendants.

Military forensic anthropologists will now work to identify them using dental records, DNA and other clues.

Lieutenant General Lewis Craparotta, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific was reported as saying by Stars and Stripes at the crowd-filled hangar: 'Although more than 75 years have passed, we're here in formation tonight to honor and welcome home our fellow Marines, brothers in arms who fell long ago in battle, enabling the freedom and security we’ve enjoyed since the end of World War II.

'As part of the 18,000 Marines in the battle, their actions changed the world for the better in the face of tremendous adversity, their honor, courage and commitment on display for the world to see.'

Mark Noah, the president of History Flight, told CNN last month that he studied history in college, but was never informed about the 78,000 US service members who have been missing since World War II.

He explained that relatives of the fallen World War II soldiers are often still alive, and appreciate the opportunity to reconnect with lost loved ones.

'You meet them at a funeral and it's just as meaningful to them as if the death had been only a year ago.

An image provided by History Flight shows graves of U.S. servicemen under a water table in Tarawa, Kiribati in June

History Flight has recovered the remains of 272 individuals from Tarawa since 2015, when it began excavating under a contract with the Defense Department, according to Mark Noah, the organization's president

'It's a remarkable experience of returning the dignity of missing people, by identifying them and reuniting them with their families,' he said.

History Flight has recovered the remains of 272 individuals from Tarawa since 2015, when it began excavating under a contract with the Defense Department, Noah said in March. He estimated that there are at least another 270 to be found.

Tarawa is now part of the Republic of Kiribati. Its government allowed History Flight to demolish an abandoned building for the search and many of the graves were underneath it.

A large number of graves were also below the water table, meaning History Flight workers had to pump water from the site each day to excavate.

The Army Graves Registration Service excavated some of Tarawa's temporary cemeteries in the late 1940s but left behind parts of individuals during this process.

A file image shows two US Marines going over the Japanese wall fortification during the battle for the Japanese held island of Tarawa in November 1943

Members of a tank unit sit atop their giant vehicle, which is stalled in a water-filled shell hole on Tarawa. Other immobilized armored amphibious monsters are visible in the background

An undated image shows dead bodies lying on the ground after the siege on the Tarawa Airport during World War II

An image shows a beach at Tarawa atoll as the 6th Marine Regiment lands and prepares for battle in November 1943

History Flight has been thoroughly excavating the grave sites, leading them to find some partial remains that have been matched with those already buried as 'unknowns' in a national cemetery in Honolulu. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency dug up remains in 2017 to make additional identifications.

The agency has identified more than 100 individuals excavated from Tarawa and the Honolulu cemetery since 2015.

According to the US Navy History and Heritage Command, the Battle of Tarawa, fought from November 20-23, 1943, saw US Marines fight against Japanese forces positioned on the atoll's Betio Island.

Tarawa, which belongs to the Republic of Kiribati, is about 2,400 miles southwest of Hawaii and is nestled in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean.

Almost 6,000 lost their lives on both sides during the three-day battle. Remains from more than 500 of the US service members were buried in a cemetery on the island.

The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was also the first time in the war that the US faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing.

Previous landings met little or no initial resistance, but this time the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man. It is argued that the victory knocked down the front door to the Japanese defenses in the Central Pacific.