HALTERMAN; ROBERT EMILE
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
IL
Individual Type Unaccounted For Missing In Action
Rank SEA1
Service Number 3000185
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY

On December 7, 1941, Japanese carrier-based aircraft launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Navy base and ships at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. That day, the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) was struck by multiple torpedoes within minutes and capsized. The captain of the Oklahoma ordered the crew to abandon ship over the starboard side. Those who escaped swam to the battleship USS Maryland (BB-46), or manned smaller boats and helped pull the wounded out of the water. Rescuers saved thirty-two sailors by cutting holes into the Oklahoma’s side, but more than four-hundred fifty sailors and Marines aboard the Oklahoma perished in the attack.

Seaman First Class Robert Emile Halterman, who joined the U.S. Navy in Illinois, served aboard the Oklahoma at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. His remains could not be identified following the incident and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Seaman First Class Halterman is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

- Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

Robert E Halterman