In 2015, the Department of Defense announced they were going to disinter the remains of the Oklahoma Unknowns and use new scientific methods to identify them. The Jacobson family was ecstatic. They said their mother cried every December 7 because of his death and especially since his body's location was unknown.
This Project Oklahoma has led to the identification of 355 men, including Herbert. This leaves 33 sets still to be identified. To mark the 80th anniversary of the attack, those 33 were reinterred.
As far as Herbert Jacobson's death, all they knew was what shipmates had told them. He had just come off duty after spending several hours ferrying men to the shore. A good friend had told them that he was pretty sure that Jacobson was asleep in his bunk and died before he even knew there was a war going on.
The family was notified that Herbert's remains had been identified in 2019 and were hoping the burial could take the following year, but then COVID-19.
--GreGen
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