Remains of Philadelphia soldier who died in WWII battle identified
Credit: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
PHILADELPHIA - The government says the remains of a soldier who died in a Pacific island battle during World War II have been identified as a 23-year-old Philadelphia man.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency says the remains of Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Joseph F. Boschetti were accounted for on July 8, 2019.
The agency says Boschetti was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 18th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force on Nov. 20, 1943.
He died on the first day of fighting against the Japanese on the island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands.
Boschetti was identified following testing of remains initially declared unidentifiable that were transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii in 1949.
Private First Class Boschetti is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.