Tooele genealogist hired by US Navy to identify men killed in Pearl Harbor
by Joe R. Wirthlin Jr ksl · KSL.comEstimated read time: 3-4 minutes
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Jamie Anderson, a genealogist from Tooele, is helping the U.S. Navy in identifying
- Pearl Harbor victims using DNA technology. Anderson contacts families for DNA samples,
- ensuring privacy. Disinterment begins Dec. 7, 85 years post-attack, to identify remains.
TOOELE — Nearly 85 years after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor, the unidentified soldiers and sailors killed in Hawaii are one step closer to coming home.
The United States Navy, in partnership with genealogists across the country, is preparing to use DNA technology to identify the remains of the soldiers and sailors killed on the USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941.
Jamie Anderson, of Tooele, was hired by the U.S. Navy to help identify potential family members who could then provide DNA samples to finally identify the fallen heroes.
"It just feels really great to be able to help," she said. "It's a very rewarding job."
For each soldier or sailor Anderson works on, the U.S. Navy sends her a microfilm copy of a 3-inch-by-5-inch identification card listing one of the missing soldier's information, including his name and next of kin.
Anderson uses public records to track down the names of family members of the deceased, eventually reaching out to them to request a DNA sample. She said most of the time, the families are already aware of the missing family member.
"Sometimes we get out to first and second cousins, but they still have an idea that they have the serviceman," she said. "Some people have no idea, but most people are very happy to help.
"There's no cost to the families, and they're really touched that the military is still working on identifying those men."
While Anderson works from her home in Tooele, seven other genealogists are also working with the Navy from across the country, preparing lists of potential family members and reaching out to them to provide DNA samples.
Anderson said the DNA samples do not go into any public company, but instead are shipped to the Armed Forces Identification Lab at Dover Air Force Base.
"They do have a database that is locked down to the military," she said. "It's not allowed to be seen by any outside groups."
The DNA already collected has not yet been compared to the remains of the soldiers, who are still interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
On Dec. 7, which will be 85 years to the day after the attack, the disinterment process will begin, allowing the bodies of the unknown to be identified and provide a sense of closure to families of the fallen.
"There's something really psychologically distressing about having a loved one out there and not really knowing what happened and not having that closure of burying them as you would someone else loved in your family," Anderson said.
The last five years have been "exciting" for genealogists as DNA became a tool to help identify unknown individuals. She began including the techniques as they became standardized across the genealogy industry.
"When I'm creating my report, I feel like I know the family," she said. "They're my family."
She said she has loved working on the project, but decided it will cap off her 30 years of experience as a genealogist.
"I love the work. It's fast-paced for me," Anderson said. "I get two or three different cases every week ... I decided that I want to end my career this way."
The remains of the soldiers and sailors who died at Pearl Harbor could not all be found or identified at the time. But now, thanks to emerging technology and those skilled enough to use it, their families can find closure and honor the men and women who gave their lives for their country.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.