USS Oklahoma Dead To Be Exhumed

Hadn't heard of this particular initiative.
"The Pentagon said Tuesday it would exhume and try to identify the remains of nearly 400 sailors and Marines killed when the USS Oklahoma sank in the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The ship capsized after being hit by nine torpedoes during the December 7, 1941 surprise attack from Japanese forces. Altogether, 429 sailors and Marines onboard were killed. Only 35 were identified in the years immediately after.
Hundreds were buried as unknowns at cemeteries in Hawaii. In 1950, they were reburied as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific - also known as the Punchbowl - inside a volcanic crater in Honolulu.
The military is acting now, nearly 75 years after the men died, because advances in forensic science and technology as well as genealogical help from family members have made it possible to identify more remains, said Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan, a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency spokeswoman.
The move is apparently a part of a new Pentagon policy on disinterring the remains of unknown troops.
According to the new policy, bodies may be exhumed from Punchbowl or any other permanent American military cemeteries - but they can not be removed from any U.S. Navy vessel that is being used as a national memorial, like the USS Arizona which remains sunk and on display in Honolulu.
The bodies of Marines and sailors lost at sea do not apply to this new effort."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3039088/Remains-unidentified-Pearl-Harbor-dead-disinterred.html#ixzz3XNg9unsv

 

I read 'Decent into Darkness' about the divers going into the ships...very good, I thought....they should know most of whom the 429 servicemen were, correct?...hopefully for the relatives, they will ID a lot of them...I'm surprised only 35 were immediately ID afterward...
I did a few 21 gun salutes at the Punchbowl....that's the statue,etc you see on the ''Hawaii Five O'' intro...very scenic and there were a lot of tourists there......the righting of the ship was very interesting....this was before computers and engineering software...here's a 2.53 minute video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCxjgZ1IOa8

 

I would suspect that those identified were found in watertight compartments, or else, were found with something that was distinguishable. After all that time spent submerged, I can't say that I am surprised that so few were identified.

IIRC, "Descent into Darkness" has a little bit to say on the effect of marine life on a deceased body, but it has been some years since I last read it. I do recall one of the divers was scared half out of his wits when he became entangled in the arms of bodies floating above him, but I forget which ship he was diving on...maybe USS Arizona.

 

at least one diver died, from what I remember.....now that you mention it, I guess ID of bodies would've ben difficult for exact ID.....good call..what was I thinking?..maybe they were in compartments assigned to them, but then, of course, they would've been trying to abandon ship....no dog tags for sailors?

 

They had them but they were mostly hung by shoe laces; instead of the beaded chains that we are used to. Most likely the tags were unable to be associated with a specific body.

 

yes, probably none on or near body......has to be one of the most horrific ways to die, just like the Korean ferry disaster...long, and slow....to all, forgive my realistic view.....no malice intended

 

Why now after all these years? And then what, on to the Arizona? There can't be too many relatives of those servicemen who went down with the Oklahoma left hanging around nowadays. I say just leave them there as they have been since that fateful day. But today ain't my day to be in charge though.

 

I was wondering that myself. What is the overall goal of this? Are families supporting this?

 

The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command(JPAC) made several big blunders in the past few years
http://www.stripes.com/news/stories-about-the-dod-s-pow-mia-agency-formerly-known-as-jpac-1.255874

Heads rolled and a new command was created - Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency(DMAA).
http://www.dpaa.mil/

The "new" DMAA is looking for a big success to dispel the fallout from JPAC's failures...Thus a new policy
http://news.usni.org/2015/04/16/document-pentagon-memo-on-unknown-military-remains

Result = http://news.usni.org/2015/04/16/under-new-policy-for-identifying-servicemen-pentagon-will-exhume-uss-oklahoma-sailors-marines

Basically, JPAC screwed the pooch big time, and DMAA is looking to score a major success to make a name for itself.

If this is true(from previous new policy link...

I would have to say that the families are behind identifying their loved ones.

Now what the families would want done with any identified remains is an open question.

 

No...You are talking about two very different situations.

The wreck of the USS Arizona and the bodies entombed therein are going to be left untouched. The financial cost and inherent risk involved in recovering those bodies would be insurmountable.

The bodies of the USS Oklahoma sailors and Marines are interred in 61 caskets in 45 grave plots. As such, the financial cost and risk to life and limb to disinter them is negligible.

 

I agree. Let them rest in peace with their comrades. There isn't any doubt about how any of them perished.

 

Minor quibble in that the new agency is DPAA

http://www.dpaa.mil/

But you nailed the dismount

http://www.ww2f.com/topic/50370-jpac-under-investigation/?hl=jpac

 

Well I hope that they get it right and sort things out once and for all. I still feel a bit uneasy about them going into the USS Oklahoma at all.

 

They aren't "going into the Oklahoma", they are exhuming the remains that were recovered from the wreckage and buried in communal caskets in a grave marked "unknown".

I appreciate the need for the families to have closure, and what not, but if it were me I'd rather stay with the buddies I died with.

 

As formerjughead said, they are not going into the USS Oklahoma. The Oklahoma was righted and raised from the bottom of Pearl Harbor back in 1943. She was towed into drydock and cleaned up with the bodies of her sailors and marines removed at that time. She was sold for scrap in December, 1946. In May, 1947, while under tow to the United States for scrapping, she started taking on water and became unmanageable. She sank shortly thereafter. AFAIK, the wreck has never been located, and as far as I know, has never been searched for.

Only the USS Arizona and USS Utah still remain on the bottom of Pearl Harbor.

 

D'oh! Well that makes it a horse of a different color then. Never mind....

 

Yeah. Thanks for clearing that up, now my understanding of the matter makes more sense.

 

You're so funny. Isn't it time to go shovel the driveway now?