Nearly 75 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the100th USS Oklahoma Sailor to be identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), was laid to rest on Tuesday.
Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Arthur Glenn of Ft. Wayne, Indiana was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
The USS Oklahoma capsized after multiple torpedo hits during the attack on Pearl Harbor, resulting in the deaths of more than 429 crew members. 388 personnel remained unidentified, including Glenn, and were purposely commingled then buried at the Punchbowl until 2015 when DPAA disinterred the 60 caskets to identify the unknown remains.
“A promise was made by our Nation that we would provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing heroes and return them to their families,” said Kelly McKeague, director of DPAA. “Our agency remains steadfast in completing that task and we are extremely humbled to provide answers and some solace to the Glenn family.”
The Machinist’s Mates’ remains were repatriated to his great niece and nephew, Danielle Myers and Matt Glenn, and a flag was presented to them during the burial.
Arthur Glenn paid the ultimate sacrifice, but his record shows that he was a true Sailor said Glenn recalling stories of the late Machinist’s Mate.
“This funeral isn’t just for my uncle, it’s for all our missing [Sailors],” said Myers. “Knowing that my uncle was honored, and to see these Sailors honor him is special and precious- too precious to put into words.”
DPAA scientists use a variety of techniques to establish the identification of unaccounted for individuals including analysis of skeletal remains, sampling DNA, and dental and chest radiograph comparisons. Each separate line of evidence must be examined at the lab and correlated with all historical evidence.
The Department of Defense DNA Operations, (DoD-DNA Ops) a division of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES) located at Dover AFB, Del., is DoD’s sole DNA testing laboratory tasked with current and past conflicts human identification efforts. The Past Accounting Operations section provides DNA testing and reporting services to DPAA for use in the identification of human remains recovered as part of the agency’s past conflict accounting efforts.
Since disinterring all of the USS Oklahoma Unknowns, DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System-Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory have been painstakingly analyzing the remains using the latest anthropological, dental, and DNA methods and procedures. To date, 158 of these Unknowns have been identified.
Arthur Glenn’s Name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, alongside his comrades who are still missing from the Oklahoma. A rosette will be placed next to his name at the memorial to indicate that he has been accounted for.