The Times (London)
November 26, 2003, Wednesday
SECTION: Home news; 15
HEADLINE: Pearl Harbor victim named after 62 years
BYLINE: Tim Reid
THE remains of an American sailor killed at Pearl Harbor have been identified 62 years after he died during the Japanese attack on the American naval base.
The two sisters of Payton L. Vanderpool Jr described their shock and emotion yesterday as naval officials told them that their brother, listed as presumed dead since January 1942, had been positively identified.
After the dogged efforts of Ray Emory, a Pearl Harbor survivor and historian, to identify American "unknowns" killed in the attack, military officials disinterred Fireman 2nd Class Vanderpool's remains in June from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
Mr Emory began working to identify Mr Vanderpool in March last year, after noticing that one of the Pearl Harbor casualty files contained dental records. A forensic odontologist who reviewed the case said that a photograph of a smiling Mr Vanderpool, missing a tooth, provided a key bit of information. The remains were missing the same tooth.
Flora Mae Young, 81, one of the sisters, said that before she was told her brother's remains had been identified she never fully understood what grieving families meant when they spoke of closure. The other sister, Thelma Blanton, 76, repeatedly called the news unreal. She was still a schoolgirl when she last saw her brother.
"I just can't imagine this happening in my lifetime," she said. "I am still in awe of it all. It is just a miracle to me. I am so thankful that us sisters were still here when this happened so we can be a part of it."
On December 7, 1941, Mr Vanderpool, 22, was a fireman aboard the USS Pennsylvania, which was in dry dock. He was on the pier sitting on pile of wood drinking coffee when the surprise attack began. His personnel file said that he was conscious when an ambulance took him away.
The first two telegrams that arrived at the family home in Missouri in January 1942 said that he was missing, then "accounted for". The last said that he was "presumed dead".
The local chapter of the American Legion held a memorial service for Mr Vanderpool at the county courthouse in 1942. "I remember I cried," Mrs Blanton said.
Mr Emory has made identifying "unknowns" a personal crusade. His research led to the identification in November 2001 of the first and only other "unknown", Apprentice Seaman Thomas Hembree.
The evidence that led to the identification of Mr Vanderpool included dental records, historical data, a photograph of the dead man and the sailor's physical description, US Navy Captain John Lewis, the official in charge of the identification, said.
"It was a remarkable resemblance between the photograph and the dental remains," Captain Lewis said. "This was one of those cases I would say is relatively rare.
It really jumped out at you."
Mr Vanderpool will be buried at the family plot next month in Braymer, Missouri, on December 7, the anniversary of the attack. He will be buried next to his parents with full military honours.
by editor on November 26, 2003 at 9:10 PM