Elliot Lewis, NBC News
The remains of two sailors missing in action since the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified, a federal agency said.
Petty Ofc. 2nd Class Claude Ralph Garcia died at age 25 while serving as a ship fitter aboard the USS West Virginia when Japanese forces attacked the U.S. naval base near Honolulu. Petty Ofc. 1st Class Keith Warren Tipsword, died at age 27, on the same battleship.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which accounts for missing defense personnel, recently announced the positive identifications.
Garcia was born to father Rafael Garcia in Ventura County, California, on April 27, 1916, according to Honor States, an organization that tracks the life and achievements of fallen military members.
He graduated from Ventura High School in 1933 and attended community college before enlisting in the Navy, according to the VC Star, which said local news reports from 1943 described Garcia as Ventura’s first World War II presumed casualty and his memorial service was estimated to have drawn over 300 mourners.
Tipsword was born in Effingham County, Illinois, on June 21, 1914, to Franklin Wiley Tipsword and Laura Mabelle Doty, according to Honor States.
The remains of Garcia and Tipsword had been buried with other unidentified bodies from the battleship USS West Virginia at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as Punchbowl Cemetery, the accounting agency said in a news release.
During the attack on Pearl Harbor, bombs and torpedoes sunk the ship, killing 106 crew members, the agency said. A total of 2,403 people died in the attack.
Many of the USS West Virginia casualties were identified in a mass disinterment six years after the attack. Many others were reburied until 2017, when 35 caskets were exhumed and sent to a laboratory for identification using methods such as mitochondrial DNA, dental analysis, anthropological analysis and material evidence, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Of the original 106 casualties, 25 had been unidentified as of 2016, it said. Others who have been ID’d recently include Navy fireman Harold K. Costill, who died at age 18, and Seaman John R. Melton, who died at 23.
Almost 2,000 deceased members of the U.S. military have been identified since the efforts began in the 1970s, the agency said.
“At DPAA, it is our sacred duty to find, account for, and bring home these service members who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Sgt. 1st Class Sean Everette, a spokesperson for the agency, told the VC Star.
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Motor Machinist Mate 1st Class Keith Warren Tipsword, from Moccasin, Illinois,boarded the USS West Virginia as a member of the battleship’s crew on 10 September 1937. He was on board the West Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. After the attack MM1c Tipsword’s body could not be identified and he was listed as “Missing in Action” (MIA). While at the Department of Defense in January 2012, Chief Rick Stone prepared reports on all of the West Virginia’s MIA’s using the Random Incident Statistical Correlation (RISC) System which listed MM1c Tipsword as a Most Likely Match to five West Virginia “Unknowns” buried the Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii, including X-134. On 13 June 2017, after over five years, the Department of Defense finally decided to act on Chief Stone recommendations and began disinterring all of the USS West Virginia Unknowns. Researchers from the Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation, using advanced law enforcement investigative techniques and sophisticated technologies not available at the Department of Defense (DoD), continued to research MM1c Tipsword’s case. In February 2022, MM1c Tipsword’s family contacted the Foundation for a comprehensive “Family Report” which narrowed the list of Most Likely Matches to only three Punchbowl “Unknowns”, including X-134. In fact, MM1c Tipsword was the ONLY “Most Likely Match” to X-134. MM1c Tipsword was recovered from a grave site in the Punchbowl Cemetery indicated by Chief Stone’s research in 2012 and his identification by the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory was announced as X-134 on 20 July 2022.
Ship’s Fitter 2nd Class Claude Ralph Garcia from Ventura, California, boarded the USS West Virginia as a member of the battleship’s crew on 21 April 1936. He was on board the West Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. After the attack SF2c Garcia’s body could not be identified and he was listed as “Missing in Action” (MIA). While at the Department of Defense in January 2012, Chief Rick Stone prepared reports on all of the West Virginia’s MIA’s using the Random Incident Statistical Correlation (RISC) System which listed SF2c Garcia as a Most Likely Match to only two West Virginia “Unknowns” buried the Punchbowl Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii, including X-162. On 13 June 2017, after over five years, the Department of Defense finally decided to act on Chief Stone’s recommendations and began disinterring all of the USS West Virginia Unknowns. Researchers from the Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation, using advanced law enforcement investigative techniques and sophisticated technologies not available at the Department of Defense (DoD), continued to research SF2c Garcia’s case and confirmed the list of Most Likely Matches to only two Punchbowl “Unknowns”, including X-162. SF2c Garcia was recovered from a grave site in the Punchbowl Cemetery indicated by Chief Stone’s research in 2012 and his identification by the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory as X-162 was announced on 20 July 2022.
Welcome home Sailors! We share the joy of your family in your impending return! God Bless you and thanks to ALL who never forgot you and your service to our country!
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