MELTON; EARL RUDOLPH
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
NJ
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank MM1
Service Number 2436153
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY
https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000014EFFSEA4

On July 1, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Machinist's Mate First Class Earl Rudolph Melton, missing from World War II.

Machinist's Mate First Class Melton, who joined the U.S. Navy from New Jersey, 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 at the time. MM1 Melton 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 MM1 Melton's remains.

Machinist's Mate First Class Melton 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/906084/sailor-killed-in-world-war-ii-accounted-for-melton/

News | Aug. 5, 2016

Sailor Killed in World War II Accounted For (Melton)

Navy Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Earl L. Melton , killed in the attack on the USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941, has now been accounted for.

The USS Oklahoma (BB-37) arrived in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 6, 1940, and spent the next several months participating in exercises and conducting patrols. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, a fleet of Japanese carriers launched formations of dive bombers, torpedo planes and fighters against the vessels moored in the shallows of Pearl Harbor. The USS Oklahoma suffered 429 casualties as it quickly capsized due to damages sustained from multiple torpedoes. The majority of the casualties (Sailors and Marines) were never identified.

During efforts to salvage the vessel, Navy personnel collected a large number of remains representing as many as 400 individuals. Most of these were later buried as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency personnel exhumed these remains and as a result in advances in forensic and analytical capabilities, were able to identify Melton.

Interment services are pending.

Welcome home and rest in peace, Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Melton.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/1223856/uss-oklahoma-killed-in-world-war-ii-accounted-for-melton/

Press Release | June 21, 2017

USS Oklahoma Killed In World War II Accounted For (Melton)

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.

Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Earl R. Melton, 24, of Lakewood, New Jersey, will be buried June 28, in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On Dec. 7, 1941, Melton 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 Melton.

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 Melton.

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 Melton’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial, Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat and autosomal DNA analysis, which matched a niece and four nephews, as well as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons, which matched Melton’s records.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 73,052 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) 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.