Paducah sailor who died in Pearl Harbor attack to be buried after remains finally identified

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The remains of a 21-year-old Paducah sailor who died in the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor will finally be coming home next month.

According to a news release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, for the first time, the military was able to positively identify the remains of Navy Fireman 2nd Class Hal J. Allison late last year.

Allison's family was only recently notified, according to the news release.

"On Dec. 7, 1941, Allison was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft," the news release states. "The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewman, including Allison."

Allison's was among the remains that were recovered, but could not be identified, and in 1949, were placed in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

But in 2015, the DPAA exhumed unidentified remains of the USS Oklahoma personnel -- including Allison's -- and used dental, anthropological and DNA analysis in an effort to identify them.

Allison's remains were identified on Oct. 14, 2021.

Now that he's been identified, a rosette will be placed next to his name on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl.

Allison will be buried in his hometown of Paducah on April 8, 2022.