Pearl Harbor John Does are 23 unknown United States Navy servicemen who were killed on the USS California during the Pearl Harbor attack. Overall, 18 men are unaccounted for from the USS California.
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 California sustained multiple torpedo and bomb hits, which caused it to catch fire and slowly flood for the next three days.
Overall, 2,335 Americans were killed in the attack; 102[1], were on the USS California. The surprise attack led 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[]
Between the day of the attack and April 23, 1942, the sailors and Marines killed on the USS California were individually buried at the Halawa Naval and Nuuanu Cemeteries. In September 1947, 1,516 sets of remains were disinterred to be identified at the Schofield Barracks Central Identification Laboratory. At the time, the laboratory made 40 positive identifications among those on the USS California who were buried as "Unknown."
The remaining 25 unknown servicemen associated with the USS California were individually buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, AKA the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Noting that only 20 USS California personnel remained listed as unaccounted for at the time, this suggests that crew members from other ships were killed on the USS California.
In 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began the USS California Project, which led to the exhumation of the 25 sets of remains that are being reexamined by advanced forensic technology. As of 2022, two of the USS California's servicemen, Pete Turk and Tceollyar Simmons, have had their remains identified. The project is still continuing, and further identifications are likely to be made sometime in the future.
Gallery[]
Grave.jpg "PearlHarborJohnDoe(1941 E707)Grave.jpg (22 KB)")
Sources[]
- DPAA USS California: Fact Sheet
- Pearl Harbor John Doe (B-435, C-1108, N-429) at Find a Grave
- Pearl Harbor John Doe (E-707) at Find a Grave
- USS California on Wikipedia
- Pearl Harbor attack on Wikipedia
Footnotes[]
- ↑ Some sources say 98 to 104 servicemen were killed. A complete list can be found here: Pearl Harbor Casualties: USS California