GALAJDIK; MICHAEL
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
IL
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank F1c
Service Number 3000679
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY
https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000jOCpcEAG

On November 8, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Fireman First Class Michael Galajdik, missing from World War II.

Fireman First Class Galajdik joined the U.S. Navy from Illinois 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. F1 Galajdik was among the men killed when the Oklahoma capsized after being torpedoed. His remains were recovered from the ship following the incident; however, they could not be identified at the time and were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2015, advances in forensic techniques prompted the reexamination of unknown remains associated with the Oklahoma, and F1 Galajdik was individually identified from among them.

Fireman First Class Galajdik is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/1071894/uss-oklahoma-sailor-from-world-war-ii-accounted-for-galajdik/

News | Feb. 6, 2017

USS Oklahoma Sailor From World War II Accounted For (Galajdik)

Fireman 1st Class Michael Galajdik, missing from World War II, has now been accounted for.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Galajdik 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 Galajdik. 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 Galajdik.

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/1152126/uss-oklahoma-sailor-from-world-war-ii-accounted-for-galajdik/

Press Release | April 14, 2017

USS Oklahoma Sailor From World War II Accounted For (Galajdik)

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.

Navy Fireman 1st Class Michael Galajdik, 25, of Joliet, Illinois, will be buried April 22 in Elwood, Illinois. On Dec. 7, 1941, Galajdik 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 Galajdik. 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 Galajdik.

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 Galajdik’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which matched two nieces and a nephew, as well as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 73,067 service members 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 ww.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.