Letter to Ashton Carter, Secretary of Defense - Identify Remains of Unidentified Service Members Who Died Aboard USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor

Letter

The Honorable Ashton Carter
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1300

Dear Secretary Carter:

We are writing with continuing concern regarding the unresolved decision as to how best to handle the remains of American service members who died aboard the USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In March of last year, many of our Senate colleagues joined us in sending a letter on behalf of our constituents requesting that the Department of Defense (DoD) allow the exhumation and identification of the remains of 22 Sailors and Marines buried in five caskets across three grave sites (P-1001, P-1003, and P-0989) at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), so that they might be returned to their relatives for proper burial. Nearly nine months later, our constituents continue to wait for a decision.

We understand that DoD is considering multiple options. In light of DoD's commitment to provide the fullest possible accounting, however, we believe the only viable choice will be one that provides for disinterment and identification of remains, as requested by the families. Only disinterment and identification can ensure that all USS Oklahoma missing personnel are accounted for and that family members can determine final disposition of the remains. DoD has the proven capability and necessary resources for these actions: it already possesses DNA samples from 84% of the families, and the new Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is prepared and resourced for this undertaking. Additionally, any remains that cannot be identified could be administratively reclassified as a group burial and reinterred with a marker listing every member of the group, thus eliminating their "unknown" status. Disinterment and identification is clearly the best option, as it will give the greatest closure to families of the fallen.

Although we understand and respect the views of some who have advocated for allowing the remains to continue to rest undisturbed at NMCP, or for interring some remains at an additional site, such alternatives would fail to account fully for missing personnel and give families the closure they have expressly requested. If disinterment and identification of all remains proves impossible, DoD should at a minimum return the already exhumed but unidentifiable remains to NMCP and reclassify them as a group burial. We would strongly suggest that anything less would fall short of DoD's promise to provide these families with the accounting they have requested and deserve.

As we await publication of the findings and your decision, we once again urge you to honor the requests of these family members, who have waited long enough to be reunited with their fallen heroes. We also ask that you keep our offices apprised as to any developments with regard to this issue. Thank you for your consideration of this request.

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