DNA milestone may move US to disinter unidentified Pearl Harbor victims | US military
The U.S. government may move to dispose of the remains of the unidentified USS Arizona crewman killed in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 after a major DNA milestone was reached, officials recently announced.
Officials stated that prior to this announcement, they had determined that sufficient family reference samples had been collected to compare with medical and dental records, as well as DNA from the remains, to identify the individual exhumed members of at least 60 percent of the warship’s crew. a statement On Friday, a statement came from the agency tasked with identifying unnamed US military personnel after past conflicts.
In the statement made by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), it was stated that it is not yet clear when exactly the destruction will begin. According to the DPAA, these must first receive approval from the Pentagon.
However, the DPAA’s statement noted that reaching what it called the 60% threshold allows “to formally request and begin planning exterminations”; This is a major breakthrough for the ongoing project to conclusively identify the USS Arizona crew members who were killed at Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor but were not immediately recognized.
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor killed more than 2,400 American military members, including 1,177 crew members of the USS Arizona. Hundreds of people are still buried in Arizona, which is one of the holiest places in the USA, which entered the second world war after the attack, and is located where it sank.
Meanwhile, most of what could be recovered from the wreckage of the Arizona were burned beyond recognition and buried as “unknowns” in nearby cemeteries. information From shows at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.
In 1947, 170 unknown US military personnel were exhumed and more than 100 were identified. But dozens were declared “unsalvageable” and reburied at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii’s capital, Honolulu.
Among those killed but unnamed in Arizona were: Robert Edwin KlineSecond class mate of a gunner in the US Navy. In 2023, his great-nephew Kevin Kline founded Operation 85, a civilian-led and privately funded organization dedicated to identifying Arizona’s remaining unknowns.
The National World War II Museum noted that this study hopes to replicate the success of a previous effort that identified more than 360 previously unnamed crew members who died aboard the USS Oklahoma during Pearl Harbor.
DPAA’s statement on Friday specifically thanked Kevin Kline and the Operation 85 team, citing “their dedicated efforts over the past three years to locate and connect enough USS Arizona families to help achieve this important milestone.” Achieving this brings the exhumation of “potentially 141 unknown individuals currently buried in multiple locations” closer, the agency added. [possibly] Mixed graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific”.
DPAA also asked any family members who may be related to a missing Arizona crew member to assist in the identification efforts of those unknown. communicate Operation 85.
In a New Year’s Eve 2025 statement posted on social media by Operation 85 and attributed to Kline, he described the detection of Arizona’s latest unknowns as a “calling out.” Kline reposted the DPAA’s announcement on Friday, writing: “Well, it’s about time!” and punctuating the message with a smiley face emoji.
In a separate statement, Operation 85 thanked the families, volunteers and military officials who helped prepare Friday’s DPAA announcement.
Operation 85’s statement stated that Friday’s developments occurred “because families came forward… people believed the mission was important and… [the organization] refused to accept that it was ‘impractical’ to identify these heroes”.
