Mississippi Sailor Laid to Rest 75 Years after Pearl Harbor
Story Number: NNS161209-17Release Date: 12/9/2016 2:15:00 PM
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From Naval Air Station Meridian Public Affairs
WESSON, Miss. (NNS) -- Sailors from Naval Air Station Meridian were honored to help lay to rest the remains of Fireman 1st Class Jim H. Johnston exactly 75 years after he died aboard battleship USS Oklahoma (BB-37) in Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
Johnston, 23 at the time of his death, is from the small town of Wesson and was known as a friendly, red-headed boy who always smiled.
Oklahoma suffered 429 casualties and capsized quickly after sustaining damage from several torpedoes when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which triggered the entry of the United States into World War II. Most of the dead were never identified.
Remains of as many as 400 Sailors and Marines were collected during efforts to salvage the vessel, and most of them were buried as unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
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