On October 24, 2017, Navy Shopfitter 3rd Class Francis Leon Hannon, killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, was finally accounted for. His family has been notified; however, he has not yet been laid to rest.

Born in Van Buren Township, Francis Leon Hannon was the youngest of four children blessed to the union of Francis Michael and Eva Mary (Windoffer) Hannon.

The Hannons eventually relocated to Middletown, in neighboring Henry County.

On August 23, 1939, the 18-year-old traveled to Indianapolis and enlisted in the Navy. Within months he was stationed on the USS Oklahoma (BB-37). During Bud's time on ship, the Pacific Fleet operations of Oklahoma included joint operations with the Army and the training of reservists. Oklahoma had been based at Pearl Harbor from 29 December 1937 for patrols and exercises, and only twice returned to the mainland.

On December 7, 1941, SF3c Hannon 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 20-year-old Francis Hannon.

"A date which will live in infamy" it has been for the United States as a whole, but for those loved ones living at 1272 Locust Street their lives would never be the same.

For his bravery and valor, Francis' family received his Purple Heart, American Campaign Medal,

World War II Victory Medal and Combat Action Ribbon.

Left to morn Bud were his parents; brother, Ermal Jerome Hannon, and sisters, Mrs Doris Delene Heider and Mrs Roma Elizabeth Smith. Ermal had enlisted in the Army Air Corps at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, California on 17 Oct 1941. (He would later re-enlist in December of 1943.)

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 Hannon.

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.

On October 24, 2017, Navy Shopfitter 3rd Class Francis Leon Hannon, killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, was finally accounted for. He has not yet been laid to rest.

SF3 Francis L Hannon is memorialized at the USS Oklahoma Memorial at Pearl Harbor (77565429, a cenotaph).

His name is also permanently inscribed among Court 3 of the "Courts of the Missing" within the Honolulu Memorial of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (56109861, a cenotaph). A rosette was placed next to his name to indicate Francis has finally been found.

SOURCES

DPAA Recent News & Stories (Oct. 24, 2017)

American Battle Monuments Commission

Jennifer Morrison, independent volunteer forensic genealogist