Trending Now - US to Exhume and Identify Remains of 88 Pearl Harbor Sailors

WHO:

U.S. military

Kelly McKeague, director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Robert Edwin Kline, a 22-year-old gunner's mate second class killed on the USS Arizona

Kevin Kline, a real estate agent in northern Virginia and great-nephew of Robert Edwin Kline

Operation 85, an organization founded by Kevin Kline

Lou Conter, sole living survivor from the sinking of the USS Arizona, died in 2024 at age 102

WHAT:

Plans to exhume the remains of 88 sailors and Marines killed during the bombing of the USS Arizona

The remains were buried as unknowns in a Honolulu cemetery

Disinterments are set to begin in November or December 2026

Approximately eight sets of remains will be removed every two to three weeks

DNA will be compared with samples from family members of missing troops

The identification effort follows previous projects using DNA for Pearl Harbor unknowns

The agency has identified hundreds of crew members from other ships using similar methods

The USS Arizona sank nine minutes after being bombed, with 1,177 dead, accounting for nearly half of the servicemen killed in the attack

More than 900 sailors and Marines are entombed inside the USS Arizona

WHERE:

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii

Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware

WHEN:

Disinterments to begin in November or December 2026

Attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941

The identification effort has been ongoing for over a decade

As of 2021, only 1% of families had provided medical and dental records and DNA samples

WHY:

To use advances in DNA technology to identify remains that were previously unidentifiable after the Pearl Harbor attack

HOW:

DNA samples from family members of missing troops will be collected and compared to the remains

Kline and Operation 85 have spent three years locating families and arranging for DNA sharing

Approximately 626 family members of sailors and Marines have shared their DNA, representing just under 60% of the crew members still missing

Sample kits are still being collected from families

QUOTES:

Kevin Kline: "I'm happy that we were able to kind of pull this together and turn that hard no."

Kevin Kline shared a story about generational grief related to the loss of family members in the attack.

The U.S. military plans to exhume the remains of 88 sailors and Marines who were killed during the bombing of the USS Arizona, with disinterments set to begin in November or December 2026. This effort, led by Kelly McKeague of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and supported by Kevin Kline of Operation 85, aims to identify these previously unidentifiable remains using advanced DNA technology, with approximately 626 family members having already provided samples. Kline expressed his satisfaction with the progress, stating, "I'm happy that we were able to kind of pull this together and turn that hard no," as the initiative seeks to bring closure to families affected by the generational grief stemming from the attack on Pearl Harbor.