Defense Department IDs Indianapolis sailor killed at Pearl Harbor
WASHINGTON (WISH) — The remains of an Indianapolis sailor who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Navy Fire Controlman 2nd Class George Gilbert, 20, was aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft.
The USS Oklahoma was hit by multiple torpedoes and quickly capsized, resulting in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Gilbert.
Between 1941 and 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crewmembers and had them interred in two cemeteries.
An attempt to identify the remains in 1947 resulted in only 35 men being identified. The unidentified remains were then buried at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
In 2015, the remains of the unidentified sailors were again exhumed for analysis.
Scientists positively identified Gilbert’s remains in Aug. 2020 using dental, anthropological, and mitochondrial DNA analysis, but his family only recently received a full briefing on his identification.
Gilbert’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with others who are missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to show that he has been accounted for.
Gilbert will be buried June 6 at the Punchbowl.