PHOTOS: Tarawa past and present

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Shipwrecks on the Pacific atoll of Tarawa. Brisbane was killed in action during the Battle of Tarawa, November 20, 1943.

Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections

During the Battle of Tarawa, 961 Americans were killed over three days.

National Archives

Tarawa Cemetery where Howard Brisbane's family thought he was buried. Area of his grave marker circled in red.

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Wreckage of Japanese artillery from World War II.

Google Earth

Location of Tarawa in the Pacific Ocean, 7,000 miles from Washington, D.C.

Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections

American boats approach Tarawa.

Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections

Victory after Battle of Tarawa.

Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections

The Battle of Tarawa, November 20, 1943.

Department of the Navy, Naval Photographic Center

A cemetery on the beaches of Tarawa, no longer in existence today.

U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation

Red circle indicates where Brisbane was buried, an area Americans paved over by this March 1944 photograph. Yellow circles indicate marked burial plots.

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Wing of an American B-24 bomber at low tide.

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PHOTOS: Tarawa past and present

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