US to exhume, identify remains of troops killed in Pearl Harbor attack
In an unprecedented move to identify American troops killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States has planned to exhume the remains of almost 400 soldiers and Marines, using DNA testing.
The remains of 388 unidentified troops on board the American battleship USS Oklahoma will be exhumed from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu and transferred to a Defense Department laboratory in Hawaii.
The Oklahoma ship sank when it struck by Japanese torpedoes and left 429 troops on board killed. Hundreds were buried as unknowns at cemeteries in Hawaii.
The military, however, reburied the remains in 1950 as unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific inside a volcanic crater in Honolulu.
The Pentagon said the identification effort would be assisted by advances in forensic science and technology, as well as by genealogical help from family members.
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Melinda Morgan, said officials plan to begin the work in three to six weeks, and they aim to fulfill the program within five years.
Japan attacked the American military base, Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941, which was resulted in the death of over 2,000 Americans. The assault marked the United States’ entrance into World War II.
“The secretary of defense and I will work tirelessly to ensure your loved ones’ remains will be recovered, identified, and returned to you as expeditiously as possible, and we will do so with dignity, respect and care,” said Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work.
“While not all families will receive an individual identification, we will strive to provide resolution to as many families as possible,” he pledged.
The Pentagon said officials started notifying families on Tuesday about the plans to exhume and identify the bodies of their loved ones. It said if a body is identified, the family will be notified and the remains of the sailor or Marine will be returned to them for a full military burial.
The Pentagon had once tried to identify the unidentified soldiers in 2003. It disinterred one casket at the cemetery, on information provided by Ray Emory, a Pearl Harbor survivor.
Despite the efforts, only the remains of 35 of the 429 sailors and Marines have been identified so far.
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