Called Tarawa News Today

>> reporter: about a year ago, peter was digging a hole with his son right next to his home. >> we dig the hole for making a garden. and while we digging the hole and we would find a bone. >> reporter: peter lives in tarawa, the site of one of the bloodiest battles in marine corps history. peter said he was no doubt in his mind hed found a u.s. marine. >> it is a very big american boy when we look at it. very long bone in the legs. like american calf. and he has a can hanging on the side. >> rep...

Government tried but couldnt find all of the u.s. bodies that had been buried on the island. now more than 65 years later, the u.s. military is back on tarawa looking for those lost marines. jpac is the militarys unit responsible for identifying lost soldiers. for the past week, the jpac team has been digging and sifting areas where they think there may be remains which they were doing when peter showed up. >> he came over and basicallily hollered at us over the fence and got our attention. >> r...

Months and months before the american team come and look for them. >> his respect he gave the remains was pretty incredible. honestly it gave me goosebumps. >> then peter gave them something else. >> the captain turned around and this guy handed him a projectile. >> i instantly said, you know, you dont need this in your house. >> the crew took the bomb away. >> the remains were bagged and labeled and will be analyzed for identification. peter says after taking care of the remains he feels connec...

Projectile. >> i instantly said, you know, you dont need this in your house. >> the crew took the bomb away. >> the remains were bagged and labeled and will be analyzed for identification. peter says after taking care of the remains he feels connected to them and told us he would like to meet the soldiers family some day. >> they will be very happy and see the body of their boy or their father or their brother coming back home to america. >> reporter: the u.s. military is planning on spending mo...

Also ahead, u.s. marines return to one of the bloodiest battlefields of world war ii. >> its basically a promise by the united states government that they will do everything in their power to bring their fallen warriors home. and thats the way we roll. >> a tiny patch of sand in the middle of the pacific called tarawa. their goal to find u.s. marines who died there more than 65 years ago.

Learning the situation in pakistan is getting even worse. reports of disease now spreading. also ahead, u.s. marines return to one of the bloodiest battlefields of world war ii. >> its basically a promise by the united states government that they will do everything in their power to bring their fallen warriors home. and thats the way we roll. >> a tiny patch of sand in the middle of the pacific called tarawa. their goal to find u.s. marines who died there more than 65 years ago. ... notebook.....

Staggering. hundreds of marines were buried in mass graves and never recovered until now. cnns ted rowlands takes us there. >> this is where we found it, inside the hole here. >> reporter: about a year ago, peter was digging a hole with his son right next to his home. >> we dig the hole for making a garden. and while we digging the hole and we would find a bone. >> reporter: peter lives in tarawa, the site of one of the bloodiest battles in marine corps history. peter said he was no doubt in his...

Long bone in the legs. the cap is an american cap and he has a can hanging on the side. >> reporter: the world war ii battle of tarawa claimed more than 1,000 marines in just over 72 hours of fighting with the japanese. after the war, the u.s. government tried but couldnt find all of the u.s. bodies that had been buried on the island. now, more than 65 years later, the u.s. military is back on tarawa, looking for those lost marines. jpac is the military unit responsible for finding and identifyi...

Rains came down again. the rains will continue off and on for the next few weeks. remember, monsoon season here in south asia, not scheduled to end until september. reza sayeh, cnn, islamabad. thank you. the river in pakistan is expected to crest the weekend threatening thousands more people. to find out how you can make a difference to provide relief for flood victims in pakistan, visit our impact your world page on cnn.com/impact. u.s. marines returned to one of the bloodiest battlefields ...

Tarawa is a tiny dot in the south pacific. before world war ii, few americans had heard of it. that abruptly changed in late 1943 when thousands of u.s. marines stormed the beaches in an epic battle. it took three days to defeat the japanese because they dug in there, but the cost of victory was staggering. hundreds of dead marines were buried in mass graves and never recovered until now. cnns ted rowlands takes us there. >> this is where we found it, inside the hole here. >> reporter: about a y...