Detroit seaman ID’d long after remains found at Pearl Harbor

Todd Spangler

WASHINGTON – Seventy-eight years after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the remains of a Detroit seaman aboard the USS Oklahoma have been identified.

The Defense Department put out a statement Thursday formally notifying the public that the remains of Navy Seaman 1st Class Edward Wasielewski have been accounted for and will be buried in San Diego on Feb. 21.

Wasielewski was 21 at the time of the attack on Dec. 7, 1941, and was aboard the battleship moored at Ford Island at Pearl Harbor. After multiple torpedo strikes, the Oklahoma capsized and 429 crew members, including Wasielewski, were killed.

After the attack, the remains of the crew members who died were initially interred at cemeteries in Hawaii.

After World War II ended, the remains were disinterred in an attempt to identify them individually but only 35 were identified at that time.

The rest were re-interred. It was not until 2015 when they were again disinterred for identification, using anthropological and genetic analysis.

Wasielewski’s remains were accounted for last May, according to the Defense Department’s Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency.

Anyone seeking additional information about the re-interment in San Diego can contact the Navy Casualty Office at 800-4439298.

Contact Todd Spangler at tspangler@ freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler.

Wasielewski