His grandson, Chris Blanchard and another family member provided DNA samples. Williams legs, part of his pelvic bone and most of his skull remain.
He was 24 at the time of his death. Blanchard was identified on January 4, 2021.
His remains will be reinterred at New Hollywood Cemetery, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. He is survived also by his son, William Eugene Blanchard of Elizabeth City, N.C.
Funeral services with military honors will be held June 7, 2021.
One of the people writing condolences said that her father, Boilermaker 1st Class John Neil was also on the Oklahoma that day and along with another shipmate were able to crawl through a gap in the hull and swim to safety, mostly underwater because of fires burning on the surface.
All his life he thought about his fellow shipmates who did not survive and that William was never forgotten.
--GreGen
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