CANASTOTA, N.Y. (AP) — Relatives of an American Marine killed in a World War II battle 73 years ago will be at the Syracuse airport when his remains are brought home for reburial.

The Pentagon announced last week that the remains of 24-year-old Pvt. Frank Penna of Canastota (kan-uh-STOH'-tuh) had been identified nearly a year after they were found buried in an unmarked grave on the Tarawa atoll in the Pacific. Penna was among the 1,000 Marines and sailors killed during a November 1943 assault that captured the island from its Japanese defenders.

A plane carrying a casket with his remains is scheduled to land at Syracuse Hancock International Airport late Thursday morning. Family members, including his last surviving sibling, will escort his body back to Canastota, 20 miles east of Syracuse.

Penna will be buried Saturday in the family plot.

[STORY BY: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]

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