http://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/1523961/funeral-announcement-for-uss-oklahoma-sailor-killed-during-world-war-ii-aldridg/

Funeral Announcement For USS Oklahoma Sailor Killed During World War II (Aldridge, W.)

Release No: 18-060 May 17, 2018 **WASHINGTON — ** The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted-for from World War II, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Navy Seaman 1st Class Willard H. Aldridge, 20, of Sitka, Kansas, accounted for on Nov. 15, 2017, will be buried May 26 in Ashland, Kansas. On Dec. 7, 1941, Aldridge was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Aldridge.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Aldridge.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the Punchbowl for analysis.

To identify Aldridge’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, dental and anthropological analysis, along with circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this recovery.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,918 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Aldridge’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

DPAA Profile

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XeK1EAK

WILLARD HENRY ALDRIDGE

On November 15, 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Seaman First Class Willard Henry Aldridge, missing from World War II.

Seaman First Class Aldridge, who joined the U.S. Navy from Missouri, was aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when it came under attack by Japanese aircraft. He was killed in the attack, and while his remains were recovered after the incident, he could not be individually identified at that time. His remains were interred as "unknowns" at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Hawaii. In 2015, DPAA used advances in forensic techniques to reexamine the "unknowns" from the Oklahoma, and SEA1 Aldridge was eventually identified from among them.

Seaman First Class Aldridge is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

ALDRIDGE; WILLARD HENRY
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
MO
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank S1c
Service Number 3422501
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/1523961/funeral-announcement-for-uss-oklahoma-sailor-killed-during-world-war-ii-aldridg/

Press Release | May 17, 2018

Funeral Announcement For USS Oklahoma Sailor Killed During World War II (Aldridge, W.)

WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted-for from World War II, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Navy Seaman 1st Class Willard H. Aldridge, 20, of Sitka, Kansas, accounted for on Nov. 15, 2017, will be buried May 26 in Ashland, Kansas. On Dec. 7, 1941, Aldridge was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Aldridge.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Aldridge.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the Punchbowl for analysis.

To identify Aldridge’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, dental and anthropological analysis, along with circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this recovery.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,918 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Aldridge’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at

www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/1413649/uss-oklahoma-sailor-killed-during-world-war-ii-accounted-for-aldridge-w/

News | Jan. 11, 2018

USS Oklahoma Sailor Killed During World War II Accounted For (Aldridge, W.)

Navy Seaman 1st Class Willard H. Aldridge, killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been accounted for.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Aldridge was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Aldridge.

In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

DPAA is appreciative to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission

Interment services are pending; more details will be released 7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.

Aldridge's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For more information about DPAA, visit www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call 703-699-1420.

Aldridge-DPAANewsRelease

Willard H Aldridge