Remains of Ohio Sailor Identified 80 Years After Pearl Harbor Attack, Officials Say
Stanley C. Galaszewski, 29, who died in the December 1941 attack, will be buried in November, officials said
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Three stricken US battleships. Left to right, West Virginia, Tennessee and Arizona after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in World War II, 1941.The remains of an Ohio sailor who died during the attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified after over 80 years, officials announced Monday.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Stanley C. Galaszewski, 29, of Steubenville, was one of the 104 crewmen on the USS California battleship who died in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a news release.
The moored ship was attacked by a Japanese aircraft and sustained multiple torpedo and bomb hits, which caused it to catch fire and slowly flood.
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According to Naval History and Heritage Command, the surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy killed thousands of people and led to the United States getting involved in World War II.
"From December 1941 to April 1942, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries," officials added in the release.
After members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains from both cemeteries in September 1947, only 39 men aboard the ship were able to be identified at the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks.
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"The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu," officials wrote. "In October 1949, a military board classified the 25 Unknowns who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Galaszewski."
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However, in 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed the remains of 25 unknown casualties from the Punchbowl for analysis. DNA and other evidence were then used to finally determine Galaszewski's identity on May 23, 2022.
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Galaszewski's remains will return to Steubenville, where he will be buried on Nov. 3, officials shared.
"Galaszewski’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII," the release added. "A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for."
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