. >> reporter: frank lewis masoni grew up in gilroy, the oldest of four boys, killed in the south pacificg world war ii in 1943. his body was never recovered or so they thought. >> just that he was missing in action. >> reporter: last month, their father was contacted by the accounting agency saying the cheek swab he sent a year earlier matched the dna of a marine buried at the national memorial cemetery of the pacific in honolulu. it was frank, finally identified 74 years after he was killed. >> and it was just like she was there and we were just like, whoa. okay. >> reporter: the military sent the family the service medals frank earned and new information on how he died in the battle on the gilbert islands. intense fighting to secure the area killed 1,000 marines and sailors. masoni, who was a cook on a ship, was sent in to fight. >> he was one of the ones that made it and lasted a day on the island. and he died the second day. my grandmother had actually sent letters every year, she wrote a letter saying, please, please, if you find his body, please, i want him to come home. >> reporte