Eighty years later, most of the victims of “USS Oklahoma” have been identified

The tomb at Pearl Harbor can be closed. 80th Tuesday, December 7^e The Pentagon has announced that it has completed its crash detection program to mark the anniversary of the Japanese military attack on a U.S. naval base. Launched in 2015, it has helped restore the identities of 355 U.S. sailors whose remains have remained anonymous for decades.

Nearly 13,000 bones were found in the rubbleUSS Oklahoma Or in port water, analyzed and 5,000 DNA samples were obtained. These specimens can then be compared with those taken from the descendants of the deceased and give a name to the remains and their graves. Only 33 bodies were not revealed their secrets and were re-buried in the Honolulu National Cemetery.

“Remember the Pearl Harbor”

After the attack, World War II changed course and the US Congress officially declared war on Japan. “Remember the Pearl Harbor”, There were posters, badges, songs, rallies and rallies in the United States.

Made secretly by General Izoroku Yamamoto for several months, the lightning strike on Pearl Harbor – which lasted only two hours – killed a total of more than 2,400 Americans. The Americans did not see the approach of the six Japanese aircraft carriers parked about 400 km off the island of Oahu.

On December 7, 1941, about 400 Japanese aircraft departed in two consecutive waves: 21 US warships were sunk or damaged, and 328 fighter jets. The ‘USS Oklahoma, Attacked while anchored at sea, leaning on its side, trapping hundreds of sailors in its gut.

Only thirty victims were identified at the time

Veterans gathered in Pearl Harbor on Tuesday to attend the commemorations David Russell, now 101 years old. He was on boardUSS Oklahoma That unfortunate day, when an officer sounded the alarm through a loudspeaker, he was reading in his box. “That’s when the torpedoes started attacking us, Boom!” Boom! Boom! Boom! Nine touched us “, The sailor recalled in a radio interview in 2016.

He recently explained to CBS television that his decision to leave the shipyard may have saved his life when an order was issued to close the waterproof hatches to protect himself from the attack. Many of his crew were unlucky and sank with the ship: 429 died, at the time of low routes, in fact only 30 could be identified.