A USS Oklahoma crewmate from Wisconsin who died in Pearl Harbor was identified.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Tuesday that Navy Seaman 2nd Class David J. Riley, 25 of Juda, Wisconsin, was accounted for on Feb. 24, 2021.
Riley was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941. The battleship was at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor when it was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma quickly capsized after multiple torpedo hits. The attack on the ship killed 429 crewmen, including Riley.
In September 1947, only 35 men who died on the USS Oklahoma were identified. According to DPAA, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Riley, in October 1949.
DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu for analysis between June and November 2015.
DPAA says its scientists used dental and anthropological analysis to identify Riley's remains. Armed Forces Medical Examiner System scientists also used mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Riley will be buried in Juda, Wisconsin, on May 27, 2023. His name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl. DPAA says a rosette will now be placed next to his name.
