Posted on 09/04/2008 4:51:54 PM PDT by Dubya
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of three U.S. servicemen, missing from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
They are Ensign Irvin A.R. Thompson, of Hudson County, N.J.; Ensign Eldon P. Wyman, of Portland, Ore.; and Fireman 2nd Class Lawrence A. Boxrucker, of Dorchester, Wis.; all U.S. Navy. Boxrucker will be buried on Sept. 6 in Dorchester, and the funerals for Thompson and Wyman are being set by their families.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, the battleship USS Oklahoma suffered multiple torpedo hits and capsized. As a result, 429 sailors and Marines died. Following the attack, 36 of these servicemen were identified and the remaining 393 were buried as unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 2003, an independent researcher contacted the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) with information he believed indicated that one of the USS Oklahoma casualties who was buried as an unknown could be positively identified. After reviewing the case, JPAC exhumed the casket, and discovered that it contained what is believed to be the remains of at least 28 other men in addition to the three identified.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of remains for Thompson, Wyman and Boxrucker. Additional remains that could not be attributed to these servicemen will undergo further analysis.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.
Requesting prayer for the family, friends, and loved ones of Ensign Eldon P. Wyman, of Portland, Ore.
Requesting prayer for the family, friends, and loved ones of Fireman 2nd Class Lawrence A. Boxrucker, of Dorchester, Wis.
God bless and comfort the families of these sailors.
Salute.
As she began to capsize, two more torpedoes struck, and her men were strafed as they abandoned ship. Within 12 minutes after the attack began, she had rolled over until halted by her masts touching bottom, her starboard side above water, and a part of her keel clear. Many of her crew, however, remained in the fight, clambering aboard Maryland to help serve her anti-aircraft batteries.
429 officers and enlisted men were killed or missing. One of those killed—Father Aloysius Schmitt—was the first American chaplain of any faith to die in World War II. Thirty-two others were wounded, and many were trapped within the capsized hull, to be saved by heroic rescue efforts.
The difficult salvage job was commenced on 15 July 1942, with Oklahoma being towed into dry dock on 28 December 1943. She was decommissioned 1 September 1944, stripped of guns and superstructure, and sold on 5 December 1946 to Moore Drydock Company of Oakland, California. Oklahoma sank on 17 May 1947, 540 miles out of Pearl Harbor, while being towed to San Francisco.
Welcome home Ensign Irvin A.R. Thompson, Ensign Eldon P. Wyman, and Fireman 2nd Class Lawrence A. Boxrucker, rest in peace.
Thank you for your ulitmate sacrifice.
mrs
On these WWII battleships, what are the structures that are sitting high on top of the towers?
“...what are the structures that are sitting high on top of the towers?”
- - -
I really do not know.
Lookouts, perhaps?
Pabiance, do you have any insight?
An old, beautiful song....
The old hometown looks the same as I step down from the train
And there to meet me is my mama and papa
Down the road I look and there runs Mary
Hair of gold and lips like cherries
It’s good to touch the green green grass of home
The old house is still standing though the paint is cracked and dry
And there’s that old oak tree that I used to play on
[ Find more Lyrics at www.mp3lyrics.org/cNK ]
Down the lane I walk with my sweet Mary
Hair of gold and lips like cherries
It’s good to touch the green green grass of home
Yes they’ll all come to meet me arms areaching smiling sweetly
It’s good to touch the green green grass of home
Then I awake and look around me at the four grey walls that surround me
And I realize that I was only dreaming
There’s a guard and there’s a sad old padre
arm in arm we’ll walk at daybreak
And again I’ll touch the green green grass of home
Yes they’ll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree
As they lay me neath the green green grass of home
Yes they’ll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree
As they lay me neath the green green grass of home
They are fire control stations. To utilize the maximum range of these ships’ guns in pre-radar days, the spotters for the shots fired were put as high as possible.
We have a story like this in our family. A cousin was killed at Pearl Harbor and it was only 4 years ago or so that he was finally identified and brought home to rest with his family. He had two living sisters and they were overjoyed. The whole town turned out for the ceremony.
Those are for spotting and correcting the fall of the shells of the big guns. They have to be high because the range of the ship's guns is beyond the field of view available from the deck. The Oklahoma had tripod masts; the battleship behind it in the photo has what's called a "latticework" mast.
Fair winds and following seas, Shipmates.
Rest in peace heroes. Thank you. May the Holy Spirit comfort your families.
Thanks for the info.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.