On 2 December 2021, DPAA announced the final accounting for the crew of the USS Oklahoma<\/i>, sunk at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941. The remaining 33 unknowns from this ship were declared accounted for.<\/p>\n
This personnel accounting was what DPAA referred to as a \u201cgroup accounting\u201d<\/i><\/a>. Although the DPAA article could be more clearly worded, apparently this means that even with modern forensic techniques the remains in question were in such condition \u2013 or so little circumstantial and\/or reference DNA evidence was available \u2013 that they could not be definitively individually identified. It\u2019s also possible that no living family member eligible to provide a DNA sample useful in their identification was available (or came forward) to provide a reference sample.<\/p>\n An individual accounting for each and every one of these elder brothers-in-arms would have been preferable, and in a perfect world that would have been possible. Sadly, it appears that for these 33 individuals that was simply not feasible given today\u2019s technology. <\/p>\n These individuals will be re-interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, AKA the \u201cPunchbowl\u201d this coming Tuesday. This coming Tuesday is 7 December 2021 \u2013 the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. <\/p>\n The individuals accounted for in this group accounting are listed below. Unless otherwise noted, all were members of the US Navy.<\/p>\n CEM William Ike Gurganus No other new accountings were announced this week by DPAA.<\/p>\n Welcome back, elder brother-in-arms. Our apologies that your return took so long, and that in your cases definitive individual identifications were apparently not feasible.<\/p>\n Rest easy. You\u2019re home now. <\/p>\n . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n Over 72,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,500 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,500 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Additionally, 126 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Cold War; 5 remain unaccounted for from the Gulf Wars; and 1 individual remains unaccounted for from Operation Eldorado Canyon. <\/p>\n Comparison of DNA from recovered remains against DNA from some (but not all) blood relatives can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered. The same is true for remains which may be recovered in the future. <\/p>\n On their web site’s Contact Us<\/em><\/a> page DPAA now has FAQs. The answer to one of those FAQs describes who can and cannot submit DNA samples useful in identifying recovered remains. The chart giving the answer can be viewed here<\/em><\/a>. The text associated with the chart is short and is found in one of the FAQs.<\/p>\n If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts who has not yet been accounted for and you qualify to submit a DNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who\u2019s been repatriated but not yet been identified \u2013 as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.<\/p>\n Everybody deserves a proper burial. That\u2019s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nCSN Thomas Zvansky,<\/b> US Naval Reserve
\nEM1c William McKnight Curry
\nEM1c Walter Benjamin Manning
\nWT1c Leo Basil Regan
\nOC1c Willie Jackson
\nMM2c James Rufus Buchanan<\/b>, US Naval Reserve
\nSF2c Algeo Victor Malfante
\nMus1c Rowland Hampton Smith
\nGM2c John Layman Wortham
\nSK3c George Perry Foote
\nY3c Harding Coolidge Blackburn
\nRM3c Frank Samuel Hoag, Jr.
\nSK3c Chester George Hord
\nRM3c Warren Joseph Kempf
\nY3c Sam Douglas Nevill
\nSK3c Eldon Casper Ray
\nRM3c Clyde Ridenour, Jr.
\nOS3c Wilbur Slade Williams
\nMatt1c Randall Walter Brewer
\nFM2c George Edward Giesa
\nS1c Robert Emile Halterman
\nMus2c Louis Edward Harris, Jr.
\nMus2c James Junior Palides
\nS1c Jack Dewey White
\nMus2c Albert Luther Williams
\nS2c Charles Homer Johannes
\nS2c Jimmie Lee Henrichsen
\nS2c Lloyd Elden McLaughlin
\nS2c William Lawrence Sellon
\nS2c Rangner Faber Tanner, Jr.
\nS2c Charles Edward Walters
\nMatt3c Jerry Jones<\/b><\/p>\n
![can be viewed here<\/em><\/a>. The text associated with the chart is short and is found in one of the FAQs.<\/p>\nIf your family lost someone in one of these conflicts who has not yet been accounted for and you qualify to submit a DNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who\u2019s been repatriated but not yet been identified \u2013 as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.<\/p>\nEverybody deserves a proper burial. That\u2019s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On 2 December 2021, DPAA announced the final accounting for the crew of the USS Oklahoma, … Final Accounting for the USS Oklahoma<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":623,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[210],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-no-longer-missing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/623"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120353,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120349\/revisions\/120353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"http:\/\/www.dpaa.mil\/portals\/85\/Images\/DNA.jpg\"){kind=link}