Remains of Larned WW II soldier recovered

LARNED, Kan. (AP) — More than 74 years after his death, the remains of a Kansas Marine killed in World War II have been recovered.

Jack Krieger of Larned is believed to have died on Nov. 20, 1943. The Great Bend Tribune reports that the Department of Defense’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Thursday that Krieger’s remains have been accounted for.

Krieger was part of a battalion fighting the Japanese on the small island of Betio of the Gilbert Islands. The Defense Department says about 1,000 Marines and sailors died and more than 2,000 were wounded during the battle. Krieger was 27.

His remains were exhumed from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, where he was buried as an unknown. Burial services are pending.