(INDIANAPOLIS) – The remains of an Indianapolis sailor killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Monday that it had identified the remains of 29-year-old Navy Fire Controlman 1st Class Edward J. Shelden of Indianapolis.
Shelden was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft on Dec. 7, 1941. The ship sustained multiple torpedo hits, causing it to quickly capsize. Shelden was among 429 crewmen aboard the ship who died.
The agency says Shelden’s remains were disinterred in 2015 and identified last July through mitochondrial DNA analysis, dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
It’s unclear when and where the remains will be reinterred.
