Sailor who died at Pearl Harbor to be buried at Arlington

The stays of a sailor from Massachusetts who died when the USS Oklahoma was struck by a number of torpedoes in the course of the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor in 1941 are being buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday.

The interment comes greater than 80 years after the assault that drew the U.S. into World War II and practically 4 years after the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency introduced that Electrician’s Mate third Class Roman W. Sadlowski, of Pittsfield, had been accounted for utilizing superior DNA and anthropological evaluation, in addition to circumstantial and materials proof.

About 15 relations from Massachusetts, Texas and Florida are scheduled to attend the ceremony that was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, stated Joe Makarski Jr., who’s Sadlowski’s nephew and who equipped a DNA pattern a couple of decade in the past that was used to assist establish the stays.

“We’re quite excited,” Makarski, 81, stated in a phone interview. “It’s been a long time, and I am glad to be alive to finalize it.”Makarski by no means met his mom’s brother, however he grew up listening to about him.

“I remember my Dad and Mom speaking about him, and they always spoke very highly of him,” he stated. “I do know he labored at General Electric and he did the books for my mom’s little magnificence salon in Pittsfield. Growing up, I at all times noticed his image at my grandmother’s home.

“Sadlowski, 21, enlisted within the Navy on July 31, 1940, in keeping with the Navy’s Office of Community Outreach.As an electrician’s mate his duties included sustaining, working and repairing the battleship’s electrical programs, motors, mills and alternators.

The USS Oklahoma was among the many first vessels hit in the course of the Japanese assault on Dec. 7, 1941, struck by three aerial torpedoes simply earlier than 8 a.m. when many sailors have been nonetheless asleep under deck, in keeping with Navy accounts.

The port aspect was torn open and inside quarter-hour of the primary strike, it had rolled over fully, trapping a whole bunch of crew members. Two members of the crew earned the Medal of Honor for his or her efforts making an attempt to avoid wasting their fellow sailors, and a 3rd was awarded the Navy Cross.Sadlowski was amongst 429 USS Oklahoma sailors and marines who died.Of those that died, 388 couldn’t be recognized and have been buried on the Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

The means of disinterring the stays for DNA evaluation started in 2015, and since then 355 have been recognized, in keeping with the Navy.

Sadlowski’s household debated the place to have the stays buried, Makarski stated. They thought-about veterans’ cemeteries in Massachusetts and Florida, and even thought-about his hometown of Pittsfield, though there are not any recognized relations nonetheless dwelling within the western Massachusetts metropolis.

“We talked a lot about it, and decided on Arlington because of its prestige,” he stated.