After eight decades, the remains belonging to a sailor who was killed during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor were finally laid to rest with full military honors Saturday near his boyhood home.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Elmer P. Lawrence, 25, died Dec. 7, 1941, while aboard the USS Oklahoma, according to a news release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
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"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 Lawrence," the release read.
"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."
Remains belonging to Lawrence were identified in early 2021 through DNA testing, but a proper burial near his boyhood home of Park City, Kentucky, finally took place Saturday in Railton, according to a report.
Lawrence's cousin, Nashville singer-songwriter Sheila Lawrence, led the effort to bring her family home, the report noted.
Elmer Lawrence was the oldest child, and his death at Pearl Harbor broke his family.
"It broke everybody’s heart, even though none of us, hardly any of us alive now knew him, but we knew him because they kept his memory alive," Sheila Lawrence said. "They kept Elmer with all of us."
After his death, Lawrence was awarded the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, and bringing his remains home was a final honor.
"It was important to my dad," Sheila said. "My dad was three years younger than Elmer and he really thought he was the bee's knees."
Todd Mantioch, an advocate for POW/MIA service members, echoed Sheila's sentiment.
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"For him to set foot on Kentucky’s soil after all that time, it literally gave us chills," Mantioch said.
"He's going to be home, laid to rest next to his mom and dad where he was supposed to be at the age of 25, 81 years ago."