Indianapolis Sailor Killed at Pearl Harbor Identified

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Fire Controlman 2nd Class George Gilbert, 20, of Indianapolis, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Aug. 24, 2020.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Gilbert was assigned to the battleship 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 Gilbert.

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.

Now buried in the Punchbowl National Cemetery on Oahu.