USS Oklahoma-- Part 4: Timeline

**  JULY 1929:  Maneuvers were greatly reduced during the Depression because of lack of fuel oil.

**  1933:  An earthquake hit Long Beach, Califirnia, while the Oklahoma was docked there.  Her crew deployed ashore to maintain order.

**  1933:  She  participated in a civil defense drill in Tacoma, Washington,  using the ship's generators to provide all electric power to the city for 24 hours.

**  JULY 1936:  Sailed to Spain to rescue American citizens and refugees during the Spanish Civil War.  While en route to France, a woman gave birth, the first time a baby was born aboard an American battleship.

**  DECEMBER 6, 1940:  Based at Pearl Harbor for patrol and exercises.

**  DECEMBER 7, 1941:  Pearl Harbor attacked by the Japanese.

--GreGen

Some More On the Palmer Boys Who Died on the USS Oklahoma-- Part 4

Senator John Hoeven, on the Senate  Defense Appropriations Committee, said:  "We are grateful that the Palmer brothers, who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation at Pearl Harbor,  have now been accounted for.  These brave brothers who perished along with 427 others on the USS Oklahoma during the attacks on Pearl harbor, remind us once again of the  of the bravery and sacrifices our nation's Greatest generation."

Plans are for the brothers to be buried in early August in Port Orchard, where other family members and their friend from the  USS Oklahoma, Charles  Burns (and her father) are buried, Helene Jensen said.

--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 Boys Lost on the USS Oklahoma-- Part 2

From the May 14, 2019, Minot (ND) Daily News "Casualties of USS Oklahoma:  Two Navy brothers  from Minot accounted for from World War II" by Eloise Ogden.

Pictures of Calvin H and Wilfred D. Palmer accompanied the article.

On March 19, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified their remains

Helene Jensen, their niece from Port Orchard, Washington, told the Minot Daily News that her father, Charles F. Burns, was also aboard the USS Oklahoma when the ship was attacked and "tried to save them to get them out of the laundryroom but was unsuccessful."  She said her father had to jump off the ship but the water was full of flames.  "He found an opening without flames " and was able to get to shore.

She also said that the Oklahoma and other ships in Pearl Harbor were not armed because the country was not at war.  (Well, they were armed, just not ready to fight.)

Her father died in 1998.  Her mother Doris then married Warren Houk.  She is 95 and resides in Port  Orchard.  Besides the two brothers and Doris, there were also two daughters:  Florence and Joyce.

So, There Were the Two Brothers and a Brother-In-Law On the Oklahoma That Day.  --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.

*************************

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

Oklahoma Unknowns: Three More Identified-- Calvin and Wilfred Porter and Grant Cook Jr.and

MAY 14, 2019--  Minot (ND) Daily News.  The remains of two bothers from Minot have been identified.

Calvin H. Palmer, 23, Seaman 2nd Class
Wilfred D. Palmer, 21, Seaman 2nd Class  (Wilferd)

They were buried August 9, 2019 in Port Orchard, Washington.

When I think of the agony of not knowing for this poor family and then their sadness to find that they had lost not just one, but both of the brothers is unfathomable.

MAY 14, 2019--  NTV ABC

Grant Cook Jr.,  Fireman 1st Class from Cozad, Nebraska.  One of 429 who died on the ship.  He will be buried at the Punch Bowl in Hawaii.

--GreGen