USS Oklahoma sailor accounted for from World War II

SUBMITTED ARTICLE

An Atkinson soldier missing in action since World War II will return home to his final resting place in the Holt County community.

According to the U.S. Navy, American Legion and Holt County Veteran Service Office, repatriation of F1C Louis Tushla is set July 15 to July 17.

On Sept. 30, 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Navy Fireman First Class Louis J. Tushla, 25, of Atkinson, killed during World War II, was accounted for on March 27, 2020.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Tushla 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 Tushla.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, 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 disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks.

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, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In October 1949, a militaryboard classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Tushla.

Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma unknownsfrom the Punchbowl for analysis. To identify Tushla's remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y chromosome DNA analysis.

Tushla's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Tushla will be buried July 17, in his hometown.

Questions about Tushla's return to Nebraska may be directed to the Veteran Service office at 402-336-1200 or via email at [email protected] or [email protected].