PEPE; STEPHEN
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
CA
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank WT1
Service Number 2063596
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XhSLEA0

On March 19, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Water Tender First Class Stephen Pepe, missing from World War II.

Water Tender First Class Pepe, who joined the U.S. Navy from Kansas, served on the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and was aboard the ship during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. He was killed in the attack, and while his remains were recovered from the ship following the incident, they could not be individually identified at the time. WT1 Pepe was initially buried as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2015, modern forensic techniques prompted the reexamination and identification of WT1 Pepe’s remains.

Water Tender First Class Pepe is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/1502690/uss-oklahoma-sailor-killed-during-world-war-ii-accounted-for-pepe-s/

News | April 25, 2018

USS Oklahoma Sailor Killed During World War II Accounted For (Pepe, S.)

By DPAA Public Affairs

WASHINGTON – Navy Water Tender 1st Class Stephen Pepe, killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been accounted for.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Pepe was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Pepe.

In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Interment services are pending; more details will be released 7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.

Pepe's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For more information about DPAA, visit www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call 703-699-1420.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/1649789/funeral-announcement-for-uss-oklahoma-sailor-killed-during-world-war-ii-pepe-s/

Press Release | Oct. 1, 2018

Funeral Announcement For USS Oklahoma Sailor Killed During World War II (Pepe, S.)

WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted for from World War II are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Navy Water Tender 1st Class Stephen Pepe, 43, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, accounted for on March 19, 2018, will be buried October 8 in Bourne, Massachusetts. On Dec. 7, 1941, Pepe was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Pepe.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Pepe.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the Punchbowl for analysis.

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To identify Pepe’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, anthropological analysis, as well as material and circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,813 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Pepe’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account

for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

Pepe’s personnel profile can be viewed at

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XhSLEA0