The US government could move to disinter the remains of unidentified USS Arizona crew members killed in the Pearl Harbor attack after reaching a key DNA-related milestone, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) said. Officials determined enough family reference samples had been collected for comparison with DNA from remains to identify at least 60% of the battleship crew members to be disinterred, according to a DPAA statement. Reaching the 60% threshold allows the DPAA to formally request and begin planning the disinterments. The disinterments still require approval from the Pentagon.
Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor killed more than 2,400 American military members, including 1,177 USS Arizona crew members, according to the National World War II Museum. Hundreds of USS Arizona crew members are still entombed inside the Arizona. Many of those pulled from the Arizona's wreckage were burned beyond recognition and buried as 'unknowns' in nearby cemeteries, according to the National World War II Museum.
In 1947, 170 unknown US military service members were exhumed, and more than 100 were identified. Dozens were declared 'unrecoverable' and reburied at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. The disinterment could involve potentially 141 unknowns currently buried in multiple possibly commingled graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, the DPAA said.
Robert Edwin Kline, a US Navy gunner's mate second class, was among those killed on the Arizona but unaccounted for. Kevin Kline, grandnephew of Robert Edwin Kline, founded Operation 85 in 2023 to identify the Arizona's remaining unknowns. Operation 85 is a civilian-led and privately funded organization. The DPAA thanked Kevin Kline and Operation 85 for their efforts to locate and connect USS Arizona families.
A prior effort identified more than 360 crew members who died on the USS Oklahoma during Pearl Harbor and had previously been unaccounted for, according to the National World War II Museum.