Sailor’s remains from Pearl Harbor IDed as Virginia man

WASHINGTON – The remains of a U.S. serviceman killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified as those of a Virginia man.

The Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the sailor in a news release Tuesday as 23-year-old Navy Seaman 1st Class James W. Holzhauer. No hometown was listed.

The agency says Holzhauer was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma when it was attacked by Japanese aircraft and capsized, killing 429 crewmen.

In September 1947, after 35 disinterred remains were identified, the unidentified remains were buried and eventually classified as non-recoverable, including Holzhauer.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defence issued a call for disinterment of unknowns from the Oklahoma. A combination of DNA analysis, anthropological analysis and circumstantial evidence identified the remains as those of Holzhauer.