And Another USS Oklahoma Sailor to be Buried: Raymond Boynton

From March 7, 2024, Detroit Free Press  "Michigan native killed aboard USS Oklahoma to get military burial in Hawaii this month" by Jennifer Dixon.

Raymond Devere Boynton will be buried at the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, on March 20.

He grew up in Grandville, near Grand Rapids and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in June 1940, shortly after his 18th birthday.  He was promoted from apprentice seaman to seaman second class in October 1940 and died just over a year later at the age of 19.

His last surviving relative, nephew Harry Zies of Springtown, Texas, says the burial would have given Raymond's sister a sense of closure as she always felt in the back of her mind that he was still alive.  However, that sister, Bette, Harry's mother, died in 2013.

So Glad the U.S. Is Doing This.  --GreGen

WW II Sergeant Laid to Rest 80 Years After His Death: Harold Hammett

From Feb. 20,2024, WECT News (WDAM News Hattiesburg, Ms.) by Jay Harrison and Andrew McMunn.

Sergeant Harold Hammett, USMC, left Hattiesburg for San Francisco in 1940 and later enlisted in the Marine Corps.  Thousands like him were sent to fight in the South Pacific.  In 1943, as a member of the 2nd Marine Division, he landed on the Japanese-held island of Betio

The ensuing fight, called the Battle of Tarawa claimed thousands of lives, including that of Hammett who was just 24 years old at the time and was one of the first killed.  His family was notified a month later.

His remains were declared non-recoverable until they were found recently in  Hawaii's National Cemetery  of the Pacific, known as the "Punchbowl."

Using DNA, his family was found. This past week, he was reinterred at Roseland Park Cemetery in Hattiesburg.

I am so glad our government makes this identification effort.  --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

Keith Tipsword Comes Home-- Part 2: On the USS West Virginia

When Japan mounted the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, Tipsword's ship, the battleship USS West Virginia, was hit by torpedoes and bombs and sank.  The explosions rendered many of the victins impossible to identify.

They were buried in mass graves and labeled as "unknown" in a cemetery located in a volcano crater known as the Punchbowl in the island of Oahu.

In 2015, the federal government began matching the remains to DNA from family members of service members who were missing or killed in action but unidentified.  The program has identified hundreds of missing service members from around the world who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

--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

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

Sailor Killed on USS Oklahoma to be Buried with Full Military Honors: Beoin Corzatt

A native of Ohio, Beoin Corzatt enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1939 and received several promotions until reaching his final rank, Fireman 1st Class in May 1941.  

He was only 24 years old when he lost his life on December 7, 1941.  The attack on his ship, the USS Oklahoma, resulted in the deaths of 429 crew men, including him.

His remains were recovered from the ship, but after that length of time, could not be identified.  The were exhumed in 2015 and using advanced forensics were identified on December 20, 2020.  The recovery project has also identified the remains of  354 previous unidentifieds from the Oklahoma.

He will be reburied at the National Cemetery of the Pacific with full military honors.

--GreGen

USS Oklahoma Unknown Frank Nicoles Buried in Texas

From the January 24, 2022, KENS 5, CBS, "Decades after perishing  at Pearl Harbor, World War II sailor's remains return to San Antonio

Frank Nicoles' remains were buried Monday, January 24 in San Antonio, Texas.  He was a Fireman in the U.S. Navy and just 24 years old when he met his death.   Fir decades, his remains were buried as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in the Honolulu, one of 394 sailors and Marines from the American battleship USS Oklahoma.

It wasn't until modern technology using DNA from descendants and relatives that the event in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.

Christopher Thompson, one of Nicoles' only living  was there who was born before the sailor's death, was there.  "It's an emotional moment," he said Monday.  "The family is very gratified at the work the military  has gone to to try  to identify and bring home casualties from the war."

Officials at the Department of Defense said in September that, at that point, fewer than 50 of the initial 394 Oklahoma Unknowns remained unidentified.

Such A Great Thing the Government Is Doing.  --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

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

Another USS Oklahoma Unknown Identified: Irvin Rice

From the July 23, 2021,  WLNS 6 News  "Michigan WW II sailor accounted for nearly 80 years later" by Izzy Martin.

On June 5, 2021,  Navy Radioman  3rd Class Irvin Rice was accounted for according to an announcement released today by the Department of Defense POW/MIA  Accounting Agency.  He was among the  429 crewmen of the battleship USS Oklahoma who died that day.

For three years afterwards, the Navy made attempts to identify the unknown sets of bodies recovered.  The remains of only  35 could be identified.

The unidentified remains were buried in 46 plots in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

He will be buried  on October 2, 2021,  in Berkeley, Michigan.

--GreGen

Two Brothers Who Died on the USS Oklahoma Identified

From the June 20, 2021, Albuquerque Journal "Brothers killed at Pearl Harbor finally at peace" by Rick Nathanson.

As if the three brothers from Wisconsin dying on the Oklahoma that day, here is another really sad story.  Two more brothers have been identified.

It took nearly 80 years, but brothers Harold and William Trapp were finally given a  formal burial last week at the National memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.  Carol  Sowar along with ten members of her family were at the ceremony for her uncles.

Harold Frank Trapp and his brother William Henry Trapp were both on the USS Oklahoma.

--GreGen

USS Oklahoma Unknowns: Earl M. Ellis and Shelby Treadway

**  "USS Oklahoma sailor from Arkansas  accounted for."  June 3, 2021,.

Navy Radioman 3rd Class Earl M. Ellis, 23, of Hope, Arkansas.  Was accounted for on December  22, 2020 by the DPAA.

He will be buried July 15, 2021, in Eureka, California.

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**  "He was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  It took 79 years for the Kentucky sailor to be laid to rest."

Navy Gunner's Mate  3rd Class Shelby Treadway.    From Manchester, age 25.

He was given a full military funeral June 2, 2021, at the National Memorial Cemetery  of the Pacific (the Punch Bowl).

He was identified September 2020.

--GreGen

William Francis Hellstern of USS Oklahoma-- Part 2

William was missing, but he was not alone.  Navy personnel spent more than two years uprighting the USS Oklahoma before they could begin getting at the remains.  By that time it was difficult to do any identification.

The remains were buried together at the Halawa and Nu'uana cemeteries.

Those remains were later transferred to 46 plots at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl.  In 2015, DPAA  started exhuming the remains for analysis using DNA.

Ted Hummel said that he had first been contacted by the DPAA about five and a half years ago.  Hummel provided them with his DNA, some of his mother's from her locket of hair from the family Bible.

They identified his uncle.

William Francis Hellstern was buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge next to his sister, Ted's mother.  Hellstern also has a marker in Illinois, but the family decided to bury his with his sister.

Again, What a Great Thing the Government Is Doing.  --GreGen

USS West Virginia Pearl Harbor Victim Welborn Ashby Identified

From Jan. 24, 2021, Tennessee 10 News (Tennessee) "Kentucky WWII soldier who died at Pearl Harbor identified" by Conner Farrell.

According to a release from the  Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the remains of Navy Fireman 3rd Class Welborn L. Ashby from Centertown, Kentucky, have been identified.  He was 24 when he died on the battleship USS West Virginia on December 7, 1941.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 106 crew members aboard the ship.  During salvage of the ship, the remains of at least 66 individuals were recovered.  Those who could not be identified, including Mr. Ashby, were interred as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl in Honolulu.

To identify Ashby, dental, anthropological analysis and DNA were used.

He will be buried May 31 in his hometown.

A Hero Comes Home.  --GreGen

Pearl Harbor 79th Anniversary: Finding the USS Oklahoma Unknowns-- Part 1

Continued from today's post on my Cooter's History Thing blog.

Of the 2,403 American deaths at Pearl Harbor, 429 were from the Oklahoma.  Of those, only 35 were recovered and identified.  That means there were 394 unaccounted for.

In fact, most of the men who lost their lives that day were not recovered until 1943,m when the vessel was finally uprighted and searches able to be made.  By then, there wasn't much left.

Eventually, all the recovered unidentified remains were  buried together in communal graves at the National Memorial Cemetery  of the Pacific in Honolulu, better known as the Punch Bowl.  That's where they stayed until 2015 when they were disinterred for DNA analysis.

In the five years since, the USS Oklahoma Project  has resulted in 279 identifications.

And, there is hope that they will be able to make a dent in identifying the final 115.  Of those, sadly, so far there has been no family members known for 25 of the men.  That means they will remain unidentified, sadly.

Here's Hoping for Their Identification.  --GreGen

Another USS Oklahoma Unknown Identified: Orval Austin Tranbarger

April 5, 2020, Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader  After 78 years, WW II seaman killed at Pearl Harbor to return to the Ozarks" by Claudette Riley."

Nearly eight decades after a U.S.Navy sailor from Missouri was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, he will return to his home town for burial.

Seaman 1st Class Orval Austin Tranbarger, 20, was from Mountain View, 100 miles east of Springfield.  He was one of 429 crew men killed when the ship capsized and was one of the men whose bodies could not be identified when the ship was finally uprighted.

The unknowns were buried in groups at the Punch Bowl Cemetery in Oahu, but, dug up earlier in the 2010s and researchers are using DNA to identify.

He was identified September 18, 2019, and now will be returning to Mountain View to be buried with his family.  The date has not been set yet.

--GreGen

Some More On the Palmer Boys Lost on the USS Oklahoma-- Part 3

Calvin, Wilfred, Doris, Florence and Joyce were all children of Harry and Rosie Palmer.  The two boys and Doris were all born in Minot, North Dakota and the two other sisters might have been.  The Palmer family moved from Minot to San Francisco where Calvin and Wilfred joined the Navy.

According to the DPAA, the Palmer brothers were among the 429 killed on the Oklahoma that day.  Remains were recovered from December 1941 to June 1944 and most were unidentifiable due to length of time.    They were interred in two cemeteries:  Halawa and Nu'uanu.

In September 1947,  members of the American Graves  Registration Service disinterred the graves in the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks where they were able to identify 35 of them.  The remainder were  were buried in 46 plots at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl.

Between June and November 2015, the DPAA exhumed the 46 plots and used DNA analysis on the remains.

Helene Jensen aid that her aunt had provided DNA before her death and that is what provided the positive identification.

--GreGen

Some More on the Palmer Family Who Lost Two Sons on the USS Oklahoma That Day-- Part 1

From Find-A-Grave.

Both sons, Wilfred (also I've seen it spelled Wilferd) Dewey Palmer and Calvin Harry Palmer were remembered at the USS Oklahoma Memorial on Ford Island.  Their  unidentified remains were buried at the Punch Bowl, National Cemetery of the Pacific on Oahu.

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Only their mother is listed in Find-A-Grave:

Rose E. Stredwick Palmer

Born:  Feb. 1895 in North Dakota.
Death: October 1984, age 94

Buried at Sunset Lane Memorial Park
Port Orchard, Washington (state)

However, an added section shows that she was from England and Sweden and that her husband was Harry C. Palmer from Illinois.  In 1930 the census recorded them as living in North Dakota with two sons, Calvin and Wilferd and three daughters:  Florence E.,  Joyce D., and Doris M..

The mother's tombstone lists her as a Gold Star Mother.  The brothers were reburied at Port Orchard, Washington (state), evidently to be with their mother.

Such a Sad Story.  --GreGen

They're Coming Home At Last: Killed at Tarawa and On USS West Virginia

Again, I am so proud of the United States government's continued search for our nation's unknowns buried overseas.

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019--  Private 1st Class Kenneth W. Likens, USMC Reserve was killed at the Battle of Tarawa on November 22, 1943 while in Company B.  His remains have been identified and he is coming home.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019--  Fireman 3rd Class Harold Kenneth "Bud" Costill was 18 when he died December 7, 1941, aboard the USS West Virginia at anchor in Pearl Harbor.  That ship lost 106 in the attack.  he was reburied September 14 in New Jersey.  He was one of 66 crew members who were unidentified after the attack and buried  in Oahu's Punch Bowl.

--GreGen