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Remains of Kansas man who died at Pearl Harbor identified

Obit Pearl Harbor Survivor
Posted at 11:19 AM, Apr 16, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-16 12:19:40-04

TOPEKA, Kan. — A 20-year-old Wichita man who died in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack at Pearl Harbor will be buried in his native state in May.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Thursday it had identified the remains of Navy 3rd Class Cook Robert Goodwin. He was aboard the USS Oklahoma when it was hit by multiple torpedoes during the attack by the Japanese.

Goodwin was among 429 crewmen aboard the ship that died in the attack, which killed a total of 2,400 Americans and thrust the U.S. into World War II.

His remains were identified in November using "dental and anthropological analysis" as well as mitochondrial DNA, according to the DPAA.

A burial service is planned for him on May 14 in Topeka.

Goodwin's remains were among those buried in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu before they were exhumed for analysis.