Texas sailor killed aboard USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor identified decades after death

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A U.S. Navy sailor who died aboard the USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 has been accounted for, officials announced Wednesday.

Navy Fireman 3rd Class Clarence A. Blaylock, 20, of Fort Worth, Texas, was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when Japanese aircraft attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) said.

"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 Blaylock," the agency said.

The Navy spent three years recovering the remains of the deceased. However, by 1947 scientists had been able to identify only 35 crew members. Those who went unidentified were subsequently buried in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, the DPAA said.

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In 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl and scientists used anthropological analysis to begin the identification process.

Navy Fireman 3rd Class Clarence A. Blaylock, 20, of Fort Worth, Texas, has been accounted for nearly 78 years after his death aboard the USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor. (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency )

Blaylock was accounted for on July 29, 2019, the DPAA said. He will be buried on Nov. 9, 2022, at the Punchbowl.

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The names of sailors who were unaccounted for following the attack on Pearl Harbor were recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl. 

Blaylock’s name will now have a rosette placed next to it to show that he’s been accounted for.