Families of USS Arizona's Unknowns Press for Identification

From the November 2021 Military History magazine.

I knew about the USS Oklahoma's unknowns but had never thought about the unknowns of the USS Arizona.  Everyone knows of the ones entombed in the hull of that stricken ship, but what about those whose bodies were recovered, but were too messed up to identify?

The remains of 85 USS Arizona sailors are entombed at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (aka Punchbowl Cemetery) in Honolulu.  They are buried as "Unknowns."

The Defense POW/MIA  Accounting Agency (DPAA)  has announced plans to reinter ths group's remains on the wreck of the ship.  What galls the families of the 85 is that there are no plans to attempt to identify  them like was done with the Oklahoma unknowns.

--GreGen

Two More USS Oklahoma Unknowns Identified: Cecil Barncord and Glen Cyriak

February 16, 2023

The DPAA today announced that Navy Electrician's Mate 3rd Class Cecil E. Barncord, 24, killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor was accounted for on October 14,  2016.

He was on the USS Oklahoma.

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February 17, 2023

Glen Cyriak of Lake  Benton, Minnesota,  was on the USS Oklahoma that day and his remains could not be identified until now.

He will be buried at a cemetery near Verdi, Minnesota.

--GreGen

Remains of WW II Veteran to Be Reburied in St. Louis

From March 28, 2023 KSDK (St. Louis, Mo.) by Sam Clancy.

A World War II soldier from the St. Louis area will finally return home more than 80 years after he was killed.

The remains of Army Private James R. Tash will be interred  at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery on April 7.  Tash was a St. Louis  native and member of F Company, 2nd Battalion,  31st Infantry Regiment.

He was among the thousands of American and Filipino service members captured and taken prisoners of war when the Phillipines surrendered.  He endured the Bataan Death March.  After the march,  he was held at the Cabanatuan  POW camp and died  on July 19, 1942 at the age of 20.

Private Tash was buried in a common grave and his body was exhumed at the end of the war and eventually reburied at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial as an unknown.  In early 2018,  the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency moved the unidentified bodies to Joint Base Pearl Harbor for identification.    In September, his remains were identified.

Again, so happy the U.S. government and military is doing this.

--GreGen

Kansas Man Killed in Germany in World War II Identified

From the March 18, 2023, AP News.

The remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Gregory V. Knoll, 22, of Hill City, Kansas,  were idenntified in january by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

He was assigned to Company M, 3rd Battalion,  112th Infantry regiment, 28th Infantry Division during the war.  In November 1944, his battalion was overrun by German forces as they tried to capture Schmidt, Germany, in Hurtgen Forest.

Surviviors of the attack withdrew to Kommerscheidt, where Knoll was reported killed in action on November 7, 1944.

The American Graves  Registration Command conducted several investigations  in the Hurtgen area between 1946 and 1950, but were unable to find his remains.  

His remains had been found, but unidentified and buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium  in 1949.  They were disinterred in 2021 and sent to the DPAA  laboratory  at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, where scientists used DNA and other analysis to identify his remains.

He will be buried on July 7 in Garden City.

I am so glad that the United States makes this effort to find our missing military people.

--GreGen

The USS Oklahoma-- Part 1

From the December 27, 2022, Times-Gazette "Story of the USS Oklahoma  and her lost servicemen."

On December 7, 1941, the USS Oklahoma was sunk during a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor entombing hundreds of servicemen.  In 2015, Project Oklahoma began in an effort  to identify 388 men whose remains were unaccounted for. Since then, 355 have been accounted for by the Defense MIA/POW Accounting Agency.

One of those men, Seaman 1st Class Maurice Spangler, born and raised in Defiance, Ohio, will be reburied  in the National Cemetery of the Pacific, or "Punchbowl" on Hawaii on January 4, 2023.

On December7, 2021,  in a ceremony at that cemetery, the remains of the 33 men who could not be identified by DNA were laid to rest with full military honors.  In attendance were the families of both unidentified and identified sailors and Marines.

--GreGen

Illinois Veterans' Remains Finally Come Home from Pearl Harbor-- Part 1: Keith Tipsword

From the December 7, 2022, Chicago Tribune by Robert McCoppin.

In a cemetery amidst the cornfields of downstate Illinois last month, a military honor guard fired shots in salute before the remains of World War II veteran Keith Tipsword were lowered into the ground.

Tipsword, a machinist's mate, was 22 when he died on the battleship USS West Virginia in the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.  In the wake of the attack, his body was never identified, and he was listed as m missing in action, until the Navy recently identified his remains through DNA.

His sister, who was 5 years old when he died, and is now 86, vaguely remembers a man in uniform who visited their home in tiny Moccasin, Illinois, her son Greg Sapp said.

"My mom said that her mother always had an expectation the door would open  and Keith would be there," Sapp said.  "She never thought he wouldn't come home. "  Well, he finally has."

With his burial in November, Tipsword is among dozens of Pearl Harbor veterans who have been identified and brought home to be reburied with loved ones.  Through new DNA techniques, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has been able to sort through remains that were long considered to be unidentifiable.

--GreGen

Illinois Sailor Killed on USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor Laid to Rest: Keith Tipsword

From the November 16, 2022, Stars & Stripes.

Beecher City, Illinois

An Illinois sailor who died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has been laid to rest in his home state more than eighty years after his death.

U.S. Navy Machinist's Mate 1st Class Keith Tipswood was buried Thursday alongside his parents and other relatives at Moccasin Cemetery near the rural  Central Illinois village of Beecher City.

Tipsword was 27 years old when he was killed aboard the battleship USS West Virginia.

His remains were buried as unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, but they were identified this year by the defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)

Dalyne  Sapp of Effingham, the last of his siblings surviving attended Tuesday's  funeral sefrvice.  Sapp, 86,  said her brother is now buried near the family farm where he grew up  among the "hills and hollers" of Effingham County's Moccasin Township.

--GreGen

Trio Killed at Pearl Harbor Recently Identified

From the November 2, 2022, Stars and Stripes "Service members recently identified from past conflicts include trio killed at Pearl Harbor."

At least five service members  were accounted for last month by the Defense Department agency tasked with recovering U.S. troops listed as missing in action or prisoners of war.

Three of those identified by the Hawaii-based Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) were killed at Pearl Harbor in World War II and two fought in Korea.

All three Pearl Harbor men were on Battleship Row on December 7, 1941.  

Edward Conway, an electrician's mate from Auburn, Illinois, was on the USS Oklahoma.  His remains were identified  on October 1.

Floyd Clifford was a machinist mate from Mulvane, Kansas,  who also was killed on the Oklahoma.

Keith Tipsword, a machinist mate from Moccasin, Illinois, was on board the battleship USS West Virginia.

Their remains were identified July 12 and Septrmber 27, respectively.

I will have the two from Korea in my Cooter's History Thing blog today.

--GreGen

Remains of USS Oklahoma Sailor Edward E. Casinger to Be Buried

Fron November 4, 2022, KSN, NBC News

Edward C. Casinger was just twenty years old when he lost his life on the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor.  Now, 81 years later, his remains will be buried with full military honors.

He was born in Manhattan, Kansas,  on May 12, 1920, and enlisted in the Navy as an apprentice seaman on July 9, 1940, in St. Louis, Missouri.  He eventually rose to the rank of Fireman 2nd Class by late fall 1941.

He lost his life on the USS Oklahoma.  When the ship was finally uprighted in 1944, only the remains of 35 of the 429 dead could be indentified.  He was among them and buried as an"Unknown."

His remains were accounted for  October 1, 2021, through the work of the DPAA and will be buried on Noevember 19, 2022, at Arlington National Cemetery.

--GreGen

North Dakota Soldier Identified 80 Years After KIA: Pfc. Robert Alexander

From the November 3, 2022, KFYR TV "World War II soldier from ND identified 80 years after he was killed in action" by Hope Sisk.

Army Pfc.  Robert Alexander was only 27 when he was killed by Japanese forces in a mass suicide attack on his regiment in the Mariana Islands near Guam in July 1944.

The native of Tolley, North Dakota, could not be identified until June 2022 when the Department of Defense 's accounting agency ussed dental and DNA to determine his remains.

He will soon be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, November 14.

--GreGen

USS California Unknown Identified: Pete Turk

From the October 14, 2022, 12 WIBW, Topeka, Kansas, "WW II veteran to be laid to rest in Junction City" by Alex Taylor.

The remains of Seaman 2nd Class Pete Turk will return home to Kansas and laid to rest at the Kansas Veterans' Cemetery on Monday October 17 at 10:30 am with full military honors.

Pete Turk was in the U.S. Navy and was killed in action on Sunday, December 7, 1941,  while stationed on the battleship USS California.  He was twenty years old.

In 2018, the DPAA exhumed the twenty-five USS California unknowns from the Punchbowl for  analysis.

Turk is the first USS California sailor to be indentified.

--GreGen

Another USS Oklahoma Sailor Buried at Arlington National Cemetery: Roman W. Sadlowski

From the September 19, 2022, Charlottesville (Va) CBS 19 News "Sailor who died at Pearl Harbor buried at Arlington" AP.

The remains of a sailor from Massachusetts who died December 7, 1941, on board the battleship USS Oklahoma were buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, September 19.

The internment comes 80 years and nearly 4 years after the  Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified his remains.

He was Electrician's Mate 3rd Class Roman W. Sadlowski, 21,  of Pittsfield. Massachusetts.

About fifteen members of his family from Massachusetts,  Texas and Florida attended the ceremony.

--GreGen

South Texas Hero's Remains Identified After 77 Years: Sgt. Herald R. Boyd, 25

From the August 18, 2022 KIII TV by Haley Williams (Kill).

The remains of a man killed in WW II are coming home to South Texas after 77 years, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

The remains of Sgt. Herald R. Boyd, a San Patricio County native were positively identified on July 8, 2022.

Boyd was serving as a gunner on a B-17G Flying Fortress bomber of February  3, 1945,  when his aircraft was hit by a ground rocket immediately after dropping its bombs on the Tempelhof marshalling yard in Berlin.

The pilot tried to save his plane, but was unsuccessful and it crashed into a residential ares of Berlin.    Seven of the nine crew members were kiled.  The other two were captured and became prisoners of war.

After the war, the American Graves Registration Command began to investigate and recover missing American personnel in Europe.  115 sets of remains were recovered from the Doberitz Cemetery in Berlin near the end of 1946.

By the end of 19556, six of th seven dead on his plane had been identified.  Boyd's remains were thought to be  Unknown X-4804, but could not be proven. and they were buried  at Ardennes-American Cemetery in Belgium in 1957.

They were disinterred in June 2018 and sent to Offutt  Air Force Base, Nebraska, for indentification.  They were positively identified through DNA.

He will now be buried in Corpus Christi on September 12 at the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery.

Thanks to the DPAA.  --GreGen

USS Oklahoma Unknowns: Joseph W. Hofman and George Price

From the April 19, 2022, 10 WBNS  Chillicothe, Ohio.

JOSEPH W. HOFFMAN

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)  has announced that the remains of U.S. Navy  Musician 1st Class Joseph W. Hoffman were identified.

He was from Chillicothe and on board the USS Oklahoma that tragic day.

He is scheduled to be buried August 23.

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From the April 16, 2022, Herald-Whig Dallas City, Illinois.

GEORGE PRICE

Funeral service will be held May 4 in Dallas City, Illinois.

He was on the USS Oklahoma that tragic day.

--GreGen

USS Oklahoma Unknowns Identified: David F. Tidball and Claude White

From the April 23, 2022, Independence (Iowa) Bulletin Journal.

DAVID F. TIDBALL

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) recently announced that Navy Seaman First Class  David F. Tidball, 20, of Independence, Iowa, was accounted for on March 3, 2021.

He was assigned to the USS Oklahoma that tragic day.

He will be buried May 14 in his hometown.

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CLAUDE WHITE

From the April 19, 2022, WKRN  Newborn, Tennessee.

A full military service in Newborn, Tennessee, for   U.S. Navy Chief  Water Tender Claude White.

He was formally accounted for on January 4, 2021 by the DPAA and had been on the USS Oklahoma.  Flags over the Tennessee State Capitol were flown at half mast.

--GreGen

WW II Alabama Soldier Identified-- Part 2: Bill Morrison

After the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe.  AGRC conducted several searches and investigations in the Hurtgen Forest and surrounding areas between 1946 and 1950 but was not able to find and recover Bill Morrison's remains

He was declared non-recoverable in December 1951.

During a study conducted by a DPAA historian it was determined that one set of remains, designated X-4470 Neuville, originally discovered by a German citizen and recovered by the AGRC in 1946 possibly belonged to Morrison.

The remains were buried in Ardennes American Cemetery in 1950.  The remains were disinterred in April 2019 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska for identification.

Scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological and material evidence to identify the remains.  Also DNA to identify him.

Glad He's Coming Home.  --GreGen

USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted for from World War II, Frank E. Nicholes

From Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

Press release  August 27, 2020.

The DPAA announced today that Navy Fireman 1st Class Frank E. Nicholes, 24, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was accounted for on May 5, 2016.

He was onboard the USS Oklahoma when the attack came.

His name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing  at the Punch Bowl.  A rosette will be placed  next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

The Nicholes family has yet to determine a funeral date.

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FOLLOW UP

He will be buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas, on January 24, 2022.

--GreGen

Defense Agency Identifies Pearl Harbor Victim 80 Years After Attack: Billy Turner

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced it has identified another member of the USS Oklahoma's crew, Navy Seaman  1st Class Billy Turner, 20.

They identified him on October 1, 2021.

He was the first Carter County resident killed in World War II and was born  November 18, 1922, in Memphis, Tennessee, and moved to Ardmore in 1926.  Inducted into the U.S. Navy  in Oklahoma City January 4, 1940, and sent to San Diego for training.

He will be buried in his hometown of Ardmore, Oklahoma.  Turner Street in Ardmore is named for him.

--GreGen

Pfc. Walter L. Colllier, USMC, One of the USS Oklahoma's Unknowns Is Identified

From the November 3, 2021, 7 ABC Eyewitness News  "Remains from Pearl Harbor attack identified as Burbank Marine" by AP.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has announced that the remains of Marine Pfc. Walter L. Collier have been identified.  He was on board the USS Oklahoma that day in 1941.  His remains were identified in May.

He was from Burbank, California.

He will be buried December 8, 2021, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

Earlier this year, the remains of a Navy sailor were identified as Petty Officer 1st Class  Charles E. Hudson of Stockton.

--GreGen

A Hero's Return Home-- Part 4: Francis Wiemerslage

It wasn't until 2019 when the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) assisted by archaeology students from Western Carolina University did another search of the area and fund more material which was sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska for scientific analysis.

On August 24, 2021, 76 years after being shot down over Germany, Wiemerslage's remains were positively identified using DNA analysis.

Since Wiemerslage has now been identified, a rosette will be placed next to his name on the Tablet of the Missing at the cemetery in Belgium to indicate that he has been accounted for.

On Friday, Wiemerslage's remains arrived on a Southwest Airlines flight.  At the airport, Midway Airport Fire and Rescue created an arc of water cannons that the plane passed under once it landed.  Then, befo any passengers exited the plane, members of the U.S. Army Honor Guard received Wiemerslage's remains.

--GreGen