Charles Alan Jones was a United States Navy sailor who was was killed on the USS Oklahoma when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. His remains were identified on September 28, 2020 along with Bernard Wimmer, Rodger Butts, and Shelby Treadway.
Early Life[]
Charles Jones joined the United States Navy from Nebraska. His service number is 3166694. At the time of his death, Jones' rank was Seaman, second class.
Pearl Harbor Attack[]
At about 7:48 AM on December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service conducted a surprise military strike against the United States at the naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The USS Oklahoma was one of the first ships to be attacked. The ship was torpedoed and capsized. Jones was killed during the attack, though his exact circumstances are unknown. His remains were located between 1941 and 1944, but not identified. As a result, he was considered Missing in Action while his remains were buried in the Punchbowl at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Overall, 2,335 Americans were killed in the attack, 429, including Jones, were on the USS Oklahoma. The surprise attack led to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to declare December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". The following day, the US Congress declared war on Japan which led to the United States' formal entry into World War II.
Aftermath[]
After his death, Jones was awarded the Purple Heart.
In September 1947, the American Graves Registration Service was tasked to identify unknown soldier's remains from the Pacific Theatre. However, they were only able to identify thirty-five of the crewmen from the USS Oklahoma. In October 1949, the American Graves Registration Service ruled Jones, along with many soldiers whose remains were not identified, as unrecoverable.
Jones' name is featured on the USS Oklahoma Memorial with his marble stand in Row 2 and the Honolulu Memorial of the Courts of the Missing. He also has an additional grave at Harvard Cemetery in Harvard, Nebraska.
In his honor, the Charles Alan Jones VFW Post in Harvard was named after him.
Identification[]
In 2015, the Department of Defense and the Defense POW/MIA accounting agency initiated a program to exhume the unidentified sailors of the USS Oklahoma to try and match their DNA against the DNA of family members whose loved ones were never identified. Scientists at the D.P.A.A. used anthropological analysis and scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis to identify the servicemen.
Through these methods, Charles Alan Jones was identified on September 28, 2020.
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