75-plus years later, sailor killed at Pearl Harbor to be laid to rest

More than 75 years after Michael Galajdik was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the sailor from Joliet, Ill., will reach his final resting place.

Galajdik, a Navy Fireman 1st Class, will be interred Saturday at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Ill. He was 25 when he was killed while aboard the USS Oklahoma during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack by the Japanese military that thrust the United States into World War II.

Crest Hill resident George Sternisha is escorting his uncle’s body from Hawaii and was expected to arrive Friday in preparation for the funeral.

It is a ceremony that has been years in the making.

“This was my mother’s wish,” Sternisha said Thursday from Hawaii. “I’m glad that I’m able to fulfill it.”

His mother, Anna, had longed to bury her brother, but Navy officials could not positively identify his remains before she died in 1993. The first glimmer of hope that her wish would be fulfilled came in 2011, when Navy officials alerted Sternisha of their efforts to use DNA to identify the remains of 388 military personnel killed at Pearl Harbor.

Using DNA and dental records, the Navy in February finally was able to identify Galajdik’s remains.

“I’m feeling closure,” said Sternisha, a Marine with a Purple Heart from service in Vietnam. “It’s been a long journey for me and my family.”

Joliet resident Ginger Schauer Dudek took to social media Wednesday asking people to honor Galajdik by lining the processional route from the funeral home to the church. By Thursday, her request had been shared more than 100 times and prompted calls from people who want to participate.

“If it was my family, I would want a decent burial and nice closure,” Dudek said. “You’d hate for the funeral procession going by with no one knowing who actually is there and what part he played in history.”

She asked those who want to honor Galajdik to bring signs or flags and line the route in Joliet from the funeral home to the cathedral.

“It’s amazing that they would come out and show respect, support and honor,” Sternisha said Thursday upon learning of the efforts to line the procession route and support his uncle.

Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune George Sternisha, at his home in Crest Hill, Ill., is helping fulfill his mother’s longtime wish to bury her brother, Navy Fireman 1st Class Michael Galajdik, who was killed at Pearl Harbor. His funeral is scheduled for Saturday.

Chicago Tribune DNA and dental records helped authorities identify Michael Galajdik.