LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A U.S. Marine who died in the battle for the Pacific Ocean island of Tarawa during World War II is scheduled to be buried Monday in Louisville, Ky.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said the remains of Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. John R. Bayens were officially accounted for in September though analysis of dental evidence and other methods.

Bayens’ remains arrived Friday in Louisville. The burial is scheduled for Monday at Evergreen Cemetery.

The 20-year old Bayens was part of a battalion attached to the 6th Marine Regiment that landed in an amphibious assault on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands in November 1943, officials said.

More than 990 U.S. Marines and 30 U.S. sailors were killed in the battle for Tarawa, an island about 2,300 miles southwest of Honolulu. Marines and sailors quickly encountered Japanese machine gunfire when their boats got stuck on the reef at low tide. Americans who made it to the beach faced brutal hand-to-hand combat.

Bayens was killed on the third day of battle, and his remains were reportedly buried in Cemetery 33 on Betio Island, officials said.

About 65 years later, the nonprofit History Flight identified Cemetery 33, and excavations of the site revealed multiple sets of remains. Remains were given to the POW/MIA agency, and Bayens was identified.