Bountiful • Marine Pfc. Robert J. Hatch received a homecoming fit for a war hero Saturday — even if his return was delayed 76 years.
American flags and supporters lined Main Street in Bountiful between a mortuary and the city cemetery. That was the procession route for Hatch’s remains.
Hatch fought for three days against the Japanese on the small island of Betio. Then he was killed on Nov. 22, 1943.
He was buried on the island, but the U.S. military couldn’t find his remains when it returned to collect its dead in 1946.