"This is great. This is the best news," said Nancy Eckler, whose uncle, Harold Kendall "Brud" Costill, died on the West Virginia. His remains were never identified.
Eckler grew up in Clayton, New Jersey, in the same house as "Brud," who got the nickname because he couldn't pronounce "brother" when he was younger. Her grandfather had signed papers that allowed "Brud" to enlist in the Navy at age 17.
In his last letter home, Brud wrote: "If I had it to do over I would join in a second. Even though I have been away from home so long, I have been to places and seen things that I never would have seen."
He died four days later.
"There was so much guilt," Eckler said. "My grandfather never forgave himself."
She hopes her son, a captain on the the Maryland National Guard will be able to escort her uncle's remains back home.
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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