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Navy Gunner Herman Schmidt Of Sheridan To Be Buried At Arlington National Cemetery
Published
2 years agoon
A Sheridan man and Navy Crewman who was killed during the Pearl Harbor attack during World War II, will soon be buried at one of America’s oldest and prestigious National Cemeteries, reserved for those who served our country with dignity and honor.
According to the US Navy, 28 year old Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Herman Schmidt will be buried on Thursday, February 23rd, 2023 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
Schmidt was born in Alexander, Kansas and was raised in Sheridan.
He enlisted in the Navy in June 1937 and was promoted 3 times.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Schmidt 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 Schmidt.
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.
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 Schmidt.
Between June and November 2015, personnel from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed the USS Oklahoma unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.
To identify Schmidt’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis.
Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Schmidt’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
According to the US Navy, the awards he has received include (list may not be complete):
Purple Heart Medal
Combat Action Ribbon
Good Conduct Medal
American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet Clasp)
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with Bronze Star)
American Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal