Navy Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class Howard P. Brisbane,

Navy Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class Howard P. Brisbane, 21, of New Orleans, Louisiana, was buried June 9, 2017, in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. In November 1943, Brisbane was assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Brisbane was killed on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943. He was identified through DNA and anthropological analysis, and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.