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Sk2 Gerald Lee Clayton
Monument

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Sk2 Gerald Lee Clayton Veteran

Birth
Central City, Merrick County, Nebraska, USA
Death
7 Dec 1941 (aged 21)
Pearl Harbor, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA
Monument
Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA Add to Map
Plot
Courts of the Missing (Recovered)
Memorial ID
View Source
Son of Elmer Lee & Alta Grace (Wagoner) Clayton, 2015 16th Ave., Central City, NE. Crewmember of the USS Oklahoma. Killed in action December 7th, 1941.

U.S. Navy Storekeeper 2nd Class Gerald L. Clayton, killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 10, 2018

On Dec. 7, 1941, Clayton 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 Clayton.
Contributor: SBR

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Storekeeper 2nd Class Gerald L. Clayton, 21, Central City, Nebraska, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 10, 2018.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Clayton 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 Clayton.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crewmen, 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 Clayton.

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 Punchbowl for analysis.
¬
To identify Clayton’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans 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 72,771 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Clayton’s name is recorded on the Walls 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.

For funeral details and family contact information, contact the Navy Casualty Office at (800) 443-9298.

~

Entered the service from Nebraska.

Buried in Central City Cemetery. Please see this memorial for family links. Also remembered in USS Oklahoma Memorial.
Son of Elmer Lee & Alta Grace (Wagoner) Clayton, 2015 16th Ave., Central City, NE. Crewmember of the USS Oklahoma. Killed in action December 7th, 1941.

U.S. Navy Storekeeper 2nd Class Gerald L. Clayton, killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 10, 2018

On Dec. 7, 1941, Clayton 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 Clayton.
Contributor: SBR

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Storekeeper 2nd Class Gerald L. Clayton, 21, Central City, Nebraska, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 10, 2018.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Clayton 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 Clayton.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crewmen, 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 Clayton.

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 Punchbowl for analysis.
¬
To identify Clayton’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans 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 72,771 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Clayton’s name is recorded on the Walls 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.

For funeral details and family contact information, contact the Navy Casualty Office at (800) 443-9298.

~

Entered the service from Nebraska.

Buried in Central City Cemetery. Please see this memorial for family links. Also remembered in USS Oklahoma Memorial.

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