Defense Department IDs Middletown sailor killed at Pearl Harbor
WASHINGTON (WISH) — The remains of a sailor from Middletown who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Navy Shopfitter 3rd Class Francis L. Hannon, 20, was aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.
When the Japanese attacked, the Oklahoma was hit by multiple torpedoes. The battleship capsized, resulting in the deaths of Hannon and 428 other crewmen.
Between 1941 and 1944, U.S. Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew and had them interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.
An attempt to identify the remains in 1947 resulted in the identifications of 35 crewmembers from the Oklahoma. Those who could not be identified, including Hannon, were classified as “non-recoverable” and buried at the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, also known as the Punchbowl.
In 2015, personnel from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed the remains of the unidentified sailors for analysis.
Scientists identified Hannon using dental, anthropological, and mitochondrial DNA analysis, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said. He was accounted for on Aug. 28, 2017, but his family only recently received their full briefing on his identification.
Hannon’s name is on the Wall of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the names of others who are missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hannon will be buried on Oct. 13 at the Punchbowl.