The remains of a Marine from Burbank, California, who was killed during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced.
Pfc. Walter L. Collier of Burbank was identified on May 25 but his family only recently received a full briefing, the agency said in a statement this week.
"To identify Collier’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis," said a statement from the DPAA.
Collier was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island when Japanese aircraft attacked.
Multiple torpedo hits quickly caused the warship to capsize.
Collier was among 429 crewmen killed but his remains were among many that could not be identified for decades.
In Sept. 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. service members killed in the attack, the military laboratories were only able to confirm the identities of 35 men from the ship.
Re-examination of the USS Oklahoma unknowns began in 2015 when DPAA personnel exhumed the unknowns from the Punchbowl. Collier was identified through anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis, the agency said.
Collier will be buried on Dec. 8 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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