Return to Makin Island iPod Version - YouTube

The following is a true story about 19 Marines killed on a Makin Island (defending against the Japanese) in World War II. They had to retreat from the island, so they asked the islanders to please bury their dead so their bodies would not fall into the hands of the enemy.
Years later, a native man on the island was found who had been a teenager then and remembered where the fallen Marines were buried. The graves were found and the bodies disinterred. They found that all 19 had been buried with their helmets on, their rifles in their hands, in perfect condition. The islanders had really done a wonderful job.

The military sent a C130 cargo plane and an honor guard to retrieve the bodies. As they were loading them on the airplane, a voice from out of nowhere started singing "The Marine Hymn".......... This mournful sound gave everyone goose bumps. Turns out, the voice was from a man who spoke no English but remembered a song the Marines taught him when they landed back in 1941.


They got all 19 fallen Marines ........and their PHOTOS are at the end of this video......