A sailor who died with 428 crewmen in the attack on Pearl Harbor finally reported it

A US Navy sailor who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor has been described for decades after his death, military officials said Thursday.

U.S. Navy Seaman 2nd Class John C. Auld, 23, was from Newcastle, England, according to a news release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. It was assigned to the USS OklahomaA battleship anchored at Pearl Harbor, in 1941.

On December 7, Auld was aboard the ship when Japanese pilots attacked Pearl Harbor. During the attack, the USS Oklahoma took several torpedo hits and capsized just 12 minutes after her initial hit, according to the Department of Defense. Four hundred and twenty-nine of the crew members died, including Auld. Only 32 of the crew survived, due to what the Department of Defense called “acts of valor” by other military members. It was the highest death toll of any ship that day, except for the USS Arizona, which lost more than 1,100 sailors.

It took Navy personnel three years to recover the remains of the crew. The remains were interred in Halawa and Nu'uanu cemeteries on Oahu in 1944, and in 1947, military officials began working to identify the remains. The remains were removed and transferred to a laboratory, where 35 sets of remains were identified.

The unidentified remains were reinterred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. The names of those who could not be identified were recorded on the Cemetery's Missing Persons Courts.

Between June and November 2015, these remains were exhumed and re-examined at the DPAA laboratory. Scientists used anthropological analysis, DNA analysis, and circumstantial and physical evidence to make the identification. In 2018, Auld's remains were celebrated. However, it was not until recently that the DPAA was informed that Auld's family had been notified of his identity, which led to a delay in notification.

Department of Defense announced earlier this month that the remains of the crew who died aboard the USS Oklahoma have been identified. Pearl Harbor survivors will mark the 83rd anniversary of the attack on Saturday.

Now that Auld has been recognised, a rosette will be placed next to his name at the Missing Persons Courts. He was buried Friday morning in Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to the DPAA and a funeral announcement shared online.