STOCKDALE; LEWIS S.
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
CA
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank Ens
Service Number O-102095
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY RESERVE

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000014EF8lEAG

On December 15, 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Ensign Lewis S. Stockdale, missing from World War II.

Ensign Stockdale, who joined the U.S. Navy from California, 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. ENS Stockdale 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 ENS Stockdale's remains.

Ensign Stockdale is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/692356/uss-oklahoma-sailor-from-world-war-ii-accounted-for-stockdale/

Press Release | March 11, 2016

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

The Department of 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 Ensign Lewis S. Stockdale, 27, of Anaconda, Montana, will be buried March 18 in Honolulu. On Dec. 7, 1941, Stockdale 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 suffered multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in 429 casualties, including Stockdale.

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 Stockdale.

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 Stockdale.

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

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war.

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 or call (703) 699-1420.

Lewis S Stockdale