WASHINGTON — The body of an Ohio sailor killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II has been identified.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a statement Monday that Navy Fireman 3rd Class Willard Lawson was accounted for on Aug. 27, 2018.
Officials say the 25-year-old sailor from Butler County was assigned to the battleship Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked by Japanese aircraft on Dec. 7, 1941.
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A total of 429 crewmen on the battleship were killed but only 35 crew members were identified over the next few years.
A renewed effort to identify unknown remains from the Oklahoma that began in 2015 resulted in Lawson’s identification.
The Defense Department says Lawson will be buried April 27 in Madison, Indiana.
