Henry County sailor killed at Pearl Harbor to be buried in National Memorial Cemetery
The last moments of life for Francis Leon “Bud” Hannon, a native of Middletown, Ind., came just before 8 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, when the USS Oklahoma was slammed by Japanese torpedoes.
His last burial will be in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, according to the U.S. Navy, and with full military honors. The cemetery is located at the Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu and honors men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Services.
Hannon's family kept "Bud" alive through the stories they'd tell, said Vanessa Helming, a cousin. Once his remains were identified on Aug. 28, 2017, with the help of the DNA obtained from a nephew, Helming and her daughter, Chrissie Pimentel, started researching how to obtain a military burial at the National Memorial Cemetery.
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"We all knew about Francis," said Helming, from Alexandria, Ind. "So when I was visiting my daughter, who lives in Hawaii, we toured the memorial and thought, we have to get Francis buried here. My daughter contacted the Navy. She just started calling."
Pimentel, from Anderson, Ind., has lived in Honolulu for five years, the length of time it's taken to bring Hannon to his final resting place. The sailor had been considered Missing In Action for 75 years, until his remains were positively identified, Pimentel said.
"Her husband is retired from the Air Force, so she knows a little bit about military dealings," Helming said of her daughter,
The gap between identifying his remains and then scheduling a military burial resulted from the COVID-10 pandemic, said Gene Hughes, with the Navy Office of Community Outreach. Pandemic restrictions halted the scheduling of pending services. The military prefers to meet with families in person to discuss any plans, Hughes told the Star Press, and needed to wait until that option was available.
Dave Weir, the commander of the American Legion Post in Middletown, and his wife are expected to join members of Hannon's family in attending the services.
The efforts involved in making the service a reality were not lost on Helming, Hannon's first cousin once removed.
"I want to say just how wonderful the Department of the Navy has been to us," Helming said. "They have all been so helpful in getting this done."
Born Feb. 7, 1921, Hannon served as a shipfitter 3rd Class at the time of the attack on Hawaii's port, the surprise military strike that drew the United States into World War II. His skills, the Navy listed, included forging, welding and soldering to make repairs to the ship's structure.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Phillip Hannon – "Bud" Hannon's first cousin and Helming's father – was waiting in California for Hannon to arrive. The two, "like brothers," Helming said, planned to spend their R&R together.
"When he heard the news" about the attack on Pearl Harbor, Helming said, "he just knew. He knew in his heart that Francis was gone."
Army veteran Phillip Hannon, who died in 1999, fought in World War II in the Philippines and New Guinea.
"Bud" Hannon received several awards and decorations, including a Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal. American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet Clasp), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with Bronze Star), American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal.
Having enlisted on Aug. 23, 1939, Hannon reported for duty aboard the USS Oklahoma in October 1939, by way of the Naval Training Station in Great Lakes, Ill.
Historians would document that some 429 officers and enlisted men from the USS Oklahoma died on Dec. 7, 1941, mostly when the ship capsized and they were trapped inside. It would take months for the ship to be righted and remains recovered, although some sailors, like Hannon, went unidentified for decades.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Henry County sailor killed at Pearl Harbor receiving military burial
