GEORGE; GEORGE THEMISTOCLES
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
State MO
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank SEA2
Service Number 4110260
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY RESERVE

2c George will be buried in the Punchbowl, on May 13, 2024.

On December 2, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Seaman Second Class George Themistocles George, missing from World War II.

Seaman Second Class George entered the U.S. Navy from Missouri and served aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37). He was aboard the ship at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when it came under attack by Japanese aircraft and was one of the men killed when it capsized after being torpedoed. His remains could not be identified among those recovered from the ship afterward, meaning they were part of the group of remains interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Eventually, modern forensic techniques were able to separate and identify SEA2 George's remains among the unknowns buried there.

Seaman Second Class George 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/1077715/uss-oklahoma-sailor-from-world-war-ii-identified-george/

News | Feb. 9, 2017

USS Oklahoma Sailor From World War II Identified (George)

Remains of Navy Seaman 2nd Class George T. George, killed in the attack on the USS Oklahoma during World War II, have now been identified.

On Dec. 7, 1941, George 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 George. 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 George.

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.

DNA analysis and circumstantial evidence were used in the identification of his remains.

Interment services are pending.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/1714994/uss-oklahoma-sailor-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-george-g/

Press Release | Dec. 17, 2018

USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (George, G.)

WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Seaman 2nd Class George T. George, 26, of St. Louis, Missouri, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Jan. 26, 2017.

On Dec. 7, 1941, George 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 George.

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 George.

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

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,766 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. George’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 funeral details and family contact information, contact the Navy Casualty Office at (800) 443-9298.

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.

George’s personnel profile can be viewed at

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XhCOEA0

George T George