WELCH; WILLIAM E
William Edward Welch
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
OH
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank SEA1
Service Number 2797554
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000014EF8WEAW

On January 27, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Seaman First Class William E. Welch, missing from World War II.

Seaman First Class Welch, who joined the U.S. Navy from Ohio, 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, they could not be individually identified following the incident. He 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 SEA1 Welch's remains.

Seaman First Class Welch is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/981456/uss-oklahoma-sailor-from-world-war-ii-accounted-for-welch/

Press Release | Oct. 21, 2016

USS Oklahoma Sailor From World War II Accounted For (Welch)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman from World War II have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Navy Seaman 1st Class William E. Welch, 18, of Springfield, Ohio, will be buried Oct. 29 in his hometown. On Dec. 7, 1941, Welch 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 Welch. No single vessel at Pearl Harbor, with the exception of the USS Arizona, suffered as many fatalities.

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 Welch.

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 NMCP for analysis.

To identify Welch’s remains, scientists from DPAA used circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons, which matched Welch’s records.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently, there are 73,118 service members still unaccounted for from World War II.

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.

William E Welch