Sailor Killed at Pearl Harbor Coming Home to Mississippi: John Russell Melton

From July 3, 2022 Kicks 96 News.

In 1941, as the holidays approached, a Mississippi sailor from Liberty stationed at Pearl Harbor on the USS West Virginia wrote home to his family that he was looking forward to coming home for Christmas.  But Seaman First Class John Russell Melton never made it.

He was among those killed on the battleship USS West Virginia when it was hit by at least seven Japanese torpedoes and two armor-piercing  bombs on December 7, 1941.

His remains were never identified and were buried along with other unknowns in a grave in Hawaii.  But, they were disinterred in 2017 and sent to a lab for analysis -- and his family contacted for DNA samples which led to his identification.

And, he'll be coming home to Mississippi this Wednesday, July 6.  His remains will be sent to New Orleans and then a motorcade will head to his hometown where flags will be displayed and people will pay their respects.

Saturday there will be a funeral with full military honors.  The family intends to have him buried in a church cemetery along side his parents.

GreGen

Unknowns from USS West Virginia Next To Be Identified-- Part 2: "If I Had It To Do Over"

"This is great.  This is the best news," said Nancy Eckler, whose uncle, Harold Kendall "Brud" Costill, died on the West Virginia.  His remains were never identified.

Eckler grew up in Clayton, New Jersey, in the same house as "Brud," who got the nickname because he couldn't pronounce "brother" when he was younger.  Her grandfather had signed papers that allowed "Brud" to enlist in the Navy at age 17.

In his last letter home, Brud wrote: "If I had it to do over I would join in a second.  Even though I have been away from home so long, I have been to places and seen things that I never would have seen."

He died four days later.

"There was so much guilt," Eckler said.  "My grandfather never forgave himself."

She hopes her son, a captain on the the Maryland National Guard will be able to escort her uncle's remains back home.

--GreGen