The remains of almost 400 US servicemen who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor will be exhumed so that their identification is verified in order for their much deserved rights to individual burials.
These Marines and sailors have been aboard on the battleship USS Oklahoma when the ship had been hit by Japanese torpedoes in 1941.
The remains of their bodies had been buried in Hawaii together. US defense officials said that the identification effort will be employing advances in forensic and DNA testing for separating the remains.
The attack on the US base at Pearl Harbor by Japan led into the World War II.
The Japanese submarines and aircraft attacked numerous warships and amongst them there was the Oklahoma which got destroyed in the surprise attack that took place on December 7th 1941, leaving behind more than 2,400 people dead.
The identification effort would be facilitated by advanced forensic science and technology along with genealogical help from the family members of the deceased, confirmed the US Department of Defense officials.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said in a statement, “While not all families will receive an individual identification, we will strive to provide resolution to as many families as possible.”
So far, the remains of only 35 out of the 429 Marines and sailors killed aboard the USS Oklahoma have been identified.
The rest of the remains which has been retrieved during the salvage operations from 1942 to 1944, have been buried in caskets marked as “unknown” at the national cemetery in Hawaii.
Tom Gray, the cousin of Edward Hopkins killed aboard the Oklahoma said that his family had waited for over 70 years now so that Hopkins remains could be given a proper burial.
Even though it is an honor for his cousin to have been buried at a national cemetery, he said: “I also think a boy gives up his life at 19 years old and ends up in a comingled grave marked as ‘unknown’ isn’t proper.”
