WASHINGTON—The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Shipfitter 2nd Class Claude R. Garcia, 25, of Ventura, California, killed during World War II, was accounted for on May 12, 2022.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Garcia was assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS West Virginia sustained multiple torpedo hits, but timely counter-flooding measures taken by the crew prevented it from capsizing, and it came to rest on the shallow harbor floor. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 106 crewmen, including Garcia.
During efforts to salvage the USS West Virginia, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crewmen, representing at least 66 individuals. Those who could not be identified, including Garcia, were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
From June through October 2017, DPAA, in cooperation with cemetery officials, disinterred 35 caskets, reported to be associated with the USS West Virginia from the Punchbowl and transferred the remains to the DPAA laboratory.
To identify Garcia’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Garcia’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Garcia will be buried in his hometown at a date yet to be determined.
For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Service Casualty office at (800) 443-9298.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Navy for their partnership in this mission.
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 or find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.
Garcia’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000BbK3DEAV.
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