Sailors from Naval Air Station Meridian were honored to help lay to rest the remains of Fireman 1st Class Jim H. Johnston exactly 75 years after he died aboard battleship USS Oklahoma (BB-37) in Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

Johnston, 23 at the time of his death, is from the small town of Wesson and was known as a friendly, red-headed boy who always smiled.

Oklahoma suffered 429 casualties and capsized quickly after sustaining damage from several torpedoes when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which triggered the entry of the United States into World War II. Most of the dead were never identified.
Remains of as many as 400 Sailors and Marines were collected during efforts to salvage the vessel, and most of them were buried as unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

That's where they stayed until 2015, when the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency personnel exhumed these remains, and as a result in advances in forensic and analytical capabilities, were able to identify Johnston.

"They got in touch with me," said Johnston's great-nephew Frank Springs of Lucedale. "They had researched the family tree and found that I was the oldest living relative."

Springs and his brother both submitted a DNA sample, and he said they learned not long afterward their great-uncle had been found.

"It hits you kind of strange when you're notified all of a sudden after 75 years that they've identified him, and they've offered to bring him and to lay him to rest," Springs said. "That gives you kind of a warm, fuzzy feeling."

Nearly 250 people attended the funeral, including Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.

"It was my great honor to attend the funeral this morning of Fireman 1st Class Jim Johnston," Bryant said. "The service and sacrifice of those brave Soldiers and Sailors should never be forgotten."

Also attending the funeral and presenting the flag to the family on behalf of the Navy was Deputy Judge Advocate General for Reserve Affairs Rear Adm. Carol Lynch.

"Now, with the technology, we have been able to identify some of the remains," Lynch told the media. "As we were doing that, the Department of Defense has reached out to family members, and as we identify them, we're giving families the opportunity to bring their loved ones home and to have them (buried) closer to home."

Serving as pallbearers and providing full military honors were Sailors from Naval Air Station Meridian's Funeral Honors Detail. Sailors from Gulfport and Jackson also assisted.

"Today was a day I was honored to be a Sailor in the United States Navy," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Jerome Miller, a member of NAS Meridian's Funeral Honors Detail. "This is an amazing story of his journey home. I will always remember the day I helped lay a fellow service member to rest, nearly 75 years after his death."

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