After 80 Years, a Pearl Harbor Sailor Laid to Rest
Today is Memorial Day in the U.S. - a federal holiday honoring military personnel who died serving their country. After the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, 389 unidentified sailors had been interred in a volcanic crater in Honolulu officially designated as the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. After more than 70 years, the U.S government's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began the "USS Oklahoma Project." It continued its work for five years, eventually identifying 355 of the 389 unknown sailors. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that "After more than 80 years gone, Paul Boemer finally returned from Hawaii." "And Vince Boemer - who gently accepted the folded American flag that had covered his brother's casket - was happy to welcome him back.""He was a good man," Boemer said. "He was a good older brother." Earlier this month, Paul Boemer was laid to rest at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, in a ceremony scored by the playing of taps and a 21-gun salute. Family, friends, a Navy honor guard in dress whites and several dozen Freedom Rider veterans stood with reverence on a sunny, humid St. Louis day. "It's a great honor to be part of this," said Vince Boemer, who soon will turn 98. "It's wonderful to see the U.S. government go to these lengths to honor its veterans." To be sure, Paul Boemer did not plan to be gone so long when he enlisted in the Navy in late 1938. After growing up in south St. Louis, the eighth of 10 children, and graduating from Cleveland High School, the lanky 18-year-old decided on a stint in the military. He completed basic training, and the Navy assigned the new coxswain - a sailor who helps steer a ship - to the USS Oklahoma. So Boemer boarded a troop transport in Norfolk, Virginia, and sailed to the ship's home port, Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. That's where Boemer was stationed in 1939 - and on Dec. 7, 1941. On that day, Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet; the USS Oklahoma was struck by two torpedoes. The battleship quickly capsized, claiming the lives of 429 crewmen. Paul Boemer was a month shy of turning 22. In all, 2,403 U.S. personnel died that Sunday morning at Pearl Harbor and 19 vessels were destroyed or damaged. But because of "these lengths" taken by the U.S. government, Vince Boemer finally got to see his big brother buried in his hometown. Thank you for your service.
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