WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on Monday that Navy Fireman 1st Class Edward D. Johnson, 24, of Hurdsfield, who was killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 29, 2020.

Johnson moved to Linn County, Oregon, with his sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Wagner, in 1938 and was employed in farm work in the Shedd, Oregon, community until enlisting on Dec. 11, 1939, according to an Oregon newspaper.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Johnson 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 Johnson.

From December 1941-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 (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The 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 (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Johnson.

Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.

To identify Johnson’s remains, scientists from DPAA conducted anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis.

“The Greatest Generation’s legacy of service and sacrifice will never be forgotten and Edward D. Johnson is no different,” said Sen. John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, in a statement. “Edward, who perished along with 428 others on the USS Oklahoma during the attacks on Pearl Harbor, reminds us yet again of the bravery and sacrifices made during WWII. We are grateful for the DPAA and their work in identifying Edward. We join his family, his fellow veterans and North Dakotans in honoring his sacrifice.”

Hoeven helped advance legislation in 2014 that created the DPAA, and since that time, he has worked to support the agency as it seeks to locate and bring home the remains of missing service personnel.

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

Johnson will be buried on Oct. 25 in the Punchbowl.