[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 26 (Thursday, March 9, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 3806 TO HONOR UNKNOWN CASUALTIES OF THE ATTACK ON 
                              PEARL HARBOR

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                           HON. PATSY T. MINK

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 8, 2000

  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to tell my colleagues 
about my bill H.R. 3806, which I have introduced to correct the 
omission of important information on the grave markers of service 
members who died in the December 7, 1941 air attack on Pearl Harbor, 
which launched the U.S. into World War II.
  Six American battleships were sunk in the attack: including the 
U.S.S. Arizona, U.S.S. Oklahoma, U.S.S. Nevada, U.S.S. California, and 
U.S.S. West Virginia. Six destroyers and light cruisers were sunk or 
damaged. On the airfields, 164 planes were destroyed, with another 128 
damaged.
  However, what is truly staggering to me is the sheer loss of life. 
Altogether, 2,403 people were killed, and 2,340 of them served in the 
military.
  Immediately after the attack, the military worked around-the-clock to 
recover remains and place them in temporary graves on the island of 
Oahu. Tragically, 961 of the bodies were never found.
  The suddenness and severity of the attack made it difficult to 
identify many of those casualties who were found. Sometimes only ashes 
were recovered. Nevertheless, the Navy graves carried wooden crosses, 
which provided as much information as was known about the deceased.
  Later, nearly a thousand remains were moved to their final resting 
lace at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, located at 
Punchbowl Crater, in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 252 graves lie the remains of 
647 casualties whose identities are unknown.
  Regrettably, when these unknown remains were moved to Punchbowl, the 
information from the wooden crosses was not inscribed on the permanent 
gravestone. The gravestones today carry just the word, ``UNKNOWN,'' and 
a few also include ``December 7, 1941'' as the date of death.
  Surviving comrades and family members are carrying on the fight to 
better preserve their memory. A leader in this effort is Raymond Emory, 
a retired Navy chief petty officer from my state of Hawaii. As 
historian for the Pearl Harbor Survivor's Association, he spent 
thousands of hours over 12 years to research Navy burial records to 
learn more about these slain service members.
  Ray Emory's research has so far established that 74 of the Punchbowl 
Cemetery grave sites carry the remains of 124 Navy crewmen from the 
U.S.S. Arizona who died on December 7, 1941. In more than a dozen of 
these cases, he also found out their duty station about the ship.
  Navy historians have painstakingly double-checked Mr. Emory's 
research and have confirmed its accuracy. This information should be 
placed on the grave site markers along with the word, ``Unknown.'' 
Surely a sailor whom we know died on board the U.S.S. Arizona should 
have his grave site marked to show he was an unknown sailor who died in 
the service of his country on board to U.S.S. Arizona.
  My bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to add this new 
information to the grave markers, so that they will be remembered for 
their specific service on a specific ship, on a specific day in 
history.
  I urge all of my colleagues to support this measure, as the very 
least we can do to honor their supreme sacrifice for their country.

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