Eighty years ago, Pfc. Harry LeBert was a young Marine and father of two who — having just recovered from injuries received in the Battle of Tarawa — was making his way through the swamps of the Northern Marianas Islands in the Battle of Saipan when his unit was fired upon. The fallen World War II serviceman did not come home that day, but he’s coming home now.

Donavan Mansfield, who heads the U.S Department of Defense’s Veteran Repatriation Department for the Marine Corp, told LeBert’s surviving members on Monday that his remains have been recovered from a Philippians cemetery in which his graveside was marked by a number code and his body has been positively identified in a Hawaii lab.

Mansfield shared the news during a “Book of Harry LeBert” presentation in Westlake’s Freedom Hall. The book Mansfield presented to LeBert’s grandson details the serviceman’s time in the Marines, his enlistment papers, letters he received from family members while serving, the awards he was presented, and his death certificate.

“He was part of two battles that are just legendary,” Mansfield told family members. “In 1943-1944, he was part of an island campaign. There were airfields on this island that we needed to seize in order to be able to reach the islands of Japan. We seized these airfields in the Pacific and that allowed us to reach the homeland, which we all know led to the fight for Okinawa, which led to the atomic bomb and ended the war.”

In the Battle of Tarawa, the U.S. Navy used amphibious vehicles to transport Marines across a reef in the Gilbert Islands.

“The Navy was firing a bunch of artillery rounds from the ships to pepper the area. They did the best they could with the limited knowledge they had and then they sent the Marines in,” Mansfield said. “Harry was part of this initial assault on Tarawa.”

What the Navy did not factor into their assault plans, however, was low tide.

“These big assault ships bottomed out on these reefs at about 800 yards out; they were about eight football fields short,” Mansfield said. “They were at the point of no return so they dropped ramps and these Marines had to trudge out through this water, walking on a reef, as Japanese forces are bombarding them with small-arms fire and mortar fire. Imagine having all this equipment on you and having to go eight football fields walking on a reef as you’re being shot at?”

Mansfield said the word “beach” is used rather loosely to describe where the Marines landed.

“The soil is described by a survivor’s account as ‘a silo of dry beans,’ ” he said.

Once the Marines made it through all that, they then had to suppress fire and establish a headquarters in order to move forward in the war.

“Harry was part of that initial success to seize that island and got ahold of that airfield, which was instrumental in our reaching Japan later,” Mansfield.

Mansfield said LeBert received minor injuries during the battle — and seven months later would find himself in another battle on another island.

“That was just phase one,” Mansfield said. “It was the same rinse-and-repeat method with the Navy bombarding another island. The only thing is Japan, aware of what happened in Tarawa, was more well-reinforced and aware of our tactics so (the Battle of Saipan) was even more difficult. And, again, the Marines had a plan in place but circumstances happened and they ran into issues.”

This time, the Marines had established three separate zones in which each division would land.

“But what they didn’t account for was the tide shifting and in the chaos and what we refer to as ‘the fog of war’ some of the ships were pushed and merged together and three Marine battalions arrived in a single destination,” Mansfield said. “We got funneled into one spot and now we’re missing sectors where Marines were supposed to be. And what was even more detrimental about this was they were receiving constant mortar fire. There were constant explosions and there was a bottleneck where there was supposed to be one battalion of Marines but there’s two or three.”

Mansfield said LeBert was part of that initial push through the shelling and rough terrain.

“That first day was rough,” he said. “They only gained about 50 percent of what they were attempting to gain on that first day in Saipan. On Day 2, and this is the day that ultimately took Harry’s life, the Marines were moving forward when they encountered a swamp terrain, which was really common on the island and what held us back as far as our advances. The mortar fire was constant, it wasn’t just on the beach, and on the second day as they were moving through the swamp one of the mortars got close and that’s ultimately what took Harry’s life.”

Mansfield said LeBert received shell damage to his chest, which caused internal bleeding.

It took 24 days for the Marines to seize the island.

“We have family members who ask why weren’t the bodies recovered right away and they have to understand just because Harry and all the other Marines who fell that day were on the field did not mean that the fire was discontinued. Those Marines had to create a safe environment before they could go back and take care of their brothers and give them rest.”

Initially, LeBert was buried with his brothers in a trench on the island. Once the war was won, their bodies were recovered and buried in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines in 1950. LeBert’s unidentified remains were marked X21.

“That’s where his remains remained until December 2022 when science had finally gotten to the point where DNA analysis was possible and those bodies were brought stateside for identification,” he said.

Manfield said LeBert’s skeleton is 95 percent complete — “which is relatively rare” — and his teeth are mostly intact and matched his dental records. His DNA also matched samples submitted by two family members.

“Everyone in this room should feel honored to be associated with Harry LeBert because what those men went through was horrific and what he did was essential to ending the war,” Mansfield said.

Diana Fultz, LeBert’s granddaughter, said hearing the news of his recovery and identification was “very surreal.”

“We honestly thought he had entered an ammunition tent and it was hit by mortar shell, we didn’t anticipate there being anything left of Harry,” she said. “Dad tried for many years to figure it out. We knew he was in Saipan we just didn’t know any of the other stuff so to be able to have that closure is pretty cool and now we can bring him home and celebrate his life.”

She said her father was 3 when LeBert enlisted and 5 when he died.

“All we knew of him was what Grandma had to say,” she said. “We actually had his Purple Heart in the home I grew up in so we had that memorabilia with us and I think for Dad it brought a sense of respect. Dad believed in hard work in everything we did and to give all and I think that generated from the fact that Harry gave all.”

Evelyn Pierce, the niece of LeBert, said Harry was her mother’s favorite brother — and she had 12 siblings (eight brothers and four sisters).

“She loved to dance with Harry, that was her favorite thing to do was dance with Harry,” Pierce said. “When she got sick with cancer, she’d talk about, ‘I want to dance with Harry.’ ”

Pierce said her mother “would be elated” to know her brother is coming home.

“My mother always said, ‘Harry isn’t gone, he was just M.I.A. She never believed that he died. She passed away thinking that he was still alive,” she said. “If a body isn’t recovered, you’re missing in action. Now, they’ll be flying him home soon and he’ll be buried in the SWLA Veterans Cemetery in Jennings.”

Mansfield said LeBert’s remains will be accompanied by a fellow Marine from Hawaii to Louisiana. Full memorial services with military honors are tentatively scheduled for July 3.