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Man hopes to prove his brother
Solemnity, tributes
lies in a grave marked 'Unknown'
at Punchbowl cemetery
New inscription for graves
Newspaper seller recalls attackBy Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-BulletinBeneath one of the grayish-white granite headstones marked "Unknown" at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific lie the remains of Seaman 2nd Class William Arthur Goodwin -- or so his brother believes.
Goodwin was one of 1,177 crewmen of the USS Arizona killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, 59 years ago today. In that surprise attack on a Sunday morning, the Japanese sank 21 American warships, killed 2,395 military personnel and civilians, and destroyed 164 planes.
Goodwin, a month shy of his 21st birthday, was never accounted for after that day, according to Lorraine E. Marks-Haislip, historian for the USS Arizona Reunion Association.
However, his brother -- Joseph Campbell -- believes Goodwin is buried at Punchbowl in a grave marked "Unknown."
The Arizona had the greatest loss of life, accounting for half of the naval casualties that Sunday. Of the 1,511 sailors assigned to the Arizona, 334 survived. Most of its crew -- 945 -- are believed to be entombed in its rusting, sunken hull, while 124 others are buried in 74 Punchbowl graves marked "Unknown."The USS Arizona and USS Utah were the only two warships not salvaged after the attack; they remain in place on opposite ends of Ford Island. Fifty-eight sailors are entombed in the Utah.
Last year, Campbell, now 81 and president of the USS Arizona Reunion Association, and his wife, Ruth, went to the Arizona Memorial to lay a wreath in memory of his brother. Afterward, they visited the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam Air Force Base. They asked to have the remains of the sailor they believe is Goodwin exhumed and submitted to mitochondrial DNA testing for positive identification.
"There is sufficient evidence to warrant a disinterment sometime after the first of the year," said Johnie Webb, deputy commander of the military's premier forensic laboratory.The Army lab also will consider the case involving sailors from the USS Curtis -- a seaplane tender, he said. Apprentice Seaman Thomas Hembree and Seaman 1st Class Wilson Rice are believed to be buried in one grave at Punchbowl.
Since it began operations in 1973, the forensic lab and its staff of 177 have been able to identify the remains of 933 servicemen: 658 from Southeast Asia; 20 from the Korean War; 240 from World War II; and 15 from the Cold War.
It was Marks-Haislip who, while going over the records of the Arizona, discovered that Goodwin may have been buried at Punchbowl.
"It was known he was unaccounted for, and two sailors were killed in turret four (where Goodwin was to have reported the day of the attack)," Campbell said. "One sailor was identified."
The body of the unidentified sailor was found on Aug. 29, 1942, as workers removed the superstructure and guns on turrets three and four on the aft part the battleship, Marks-Haislip said.
Campbell and Goodwin were raised in an orphanage and enlisted in the Navy -- Campbell in 1938 and Goodwin two years later.
By 1941, Campbell was assigned to a minesweeper in New Jersey, and Goodwin had reported for duty on the Arizona.
"I had the opportunity to be with my brother," Campbell said in a telephone interview from his home in Tucson, "but I decided to stay with the smaller ship. The Arizona was just too big.
"I guess that decision may have saved my life."
Facts about the attack on Dec. 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor data
U.S. casualties
2,395 killed (2,001 Navy, 231 Army, 109 Marines, 54 civilians), 1,178 wounded
Japanese casualties
USS Arizona
Source: National Park Service