The firing party of U.S. Marines from Marine Barracks

The firing party of U.S. Marines from Marine Barracks Washington (8th and I) participate in the full honors funeral of U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Lt. George S. Bussa in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., Oct. 10, 2017. In November 1943, Bussa was assigned to Company F, 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. Bussa died sometime on the first day of battle, Nov. 20, 1943. Bussa’s remains were turned over to DPAA on June 24, 2016 and identified in early 2017 through laboratory analysis. (U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)