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The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor 83 years ago is fading from the memory of mortal men. There are just 16 surviving servicemen of the more than 87,000 stationed at Pearl Harbor and other military installations on Oahu, according to a list maintained by Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors.
One of those servicemen, U.S. Navy Seaman 2nd Class John C. Auld from Newcastle, England was only recently identified. His unidentified remains, along with dozens of his comrades, had been buried in 1944. They were disinterred in 1947 when another 35 bodies were identified, and the rest reburied at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In 2015, the remains were again exhumed, and using the latest DNA and other scientific means, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) was able to identify Auld’s remains in 2018. For some reason, Auld’s family wasn’t notified until recently, which was why the announcement was delayed. He was finally laid to rest on Friday in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Auld served on the battleship USS Oklahoma. She capsized after being hit by several torpedoes and went belly-up in just 12 minutes. Just 32 crew members survived. The Defense Department recently announced that all of the crewmembers who died aboard the USS Oklahoma have been identified.
