PIRTLE; GERALD HOMER
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
KS
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank F1c
Service Number 3422560
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY
https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000Xe0bEAC

On August 28, 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Fireman First Class Gerald Homer Pirtle, missing from World War II.

Fireman First Class Pirtle, who entered the U.S. Navy from Texas, 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, they could not be individually identified following the incident. F1C Pirtle was initially interred as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2015, modern forensic techniques prompted the reexamination and identification of F1C Pirtle's remains.

Fireman First Class Pirtle 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/1306893/uss-oklahoma-sailor-killed-during-world-war-ii-accounted-for-pirtle/

News | Sept. 12, 2017

USS Oklahoma Sailor Killed During World War II Accounted For (Pirtle)

Navy Fireman 1st Class Gerald H. Pirtle, killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been accounted for.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Pirtle 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 Pirtle.

Interment services are pending; more details will be released 7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.

DPAA is appreciative to the Department of Veteran's Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Pirtle’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at an American Battle Monuments Commission site along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For more information about DPAA, visit www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, or call 703-699-1420.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/1678661/funeral-announcement-for-uss-oklahoma-sailor-killed-during-world-war-ii-pirtle-g/

Press Release | Nov. 1, 2018

Funeral Announcement For USS Oklahoma Sailor Killed During WWII (Pirtle, G.)

WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted-for from World War II, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Navy Fireman 1st Class Gerald H. Pirtle, 19, of El Dorado, Kansas, accounted for on Aug. 28, 2017, will be buried November 17 in Wichita, Kansas. On Dec. 7, 1941, Pirtle 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 Pirtle.

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 Pirtle.

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.

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To identify Pirtle’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) analysis, which matched his family, as well as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons and anthropological analysis, which matched his records.

DPAA is appreciative to the Department of Veteran's Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,784 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Pirtle’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at an American Battle Monuments Commission site along with the other MIAs from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

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.

Pirtle’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000Xe0bEAC