Yakima Sailor's Remains Identified 78 Years After Pearl Harbor Attack

A Yakima sailor lost on the USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor is coming home.

Investigators identified the remains of Shipfitter Third Class Patrick L. Chess using DNA, dental records and anthropological analysis, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

A funeral is planned for Chess in Yakima in October, according to a news release from the agency, which is tasked with tracking down service members listed as missing in action.

Chess was born Nov. 20, 1917, in Yakima. On Dec. 7, 1941, he was assigned to the Oklahoma, which was moored alongside Ford Island in Battleship Row.

....

In 2015, the DPAA exhumed the remains and made another attempt to identify them, using DNA testing and other technology that was not available earlier, the release said.

Chess’ name is listed on the USS Oklahoma Memorial at Pearl Harbor, as well as the Walls of the Missing at the national cemetery in Hawaii, where a rosette will be placed next to his name to show he had been accounted for, the release said.