Army lab identifies
remains of sailor
buried at Punchbowl

He was killed during the Dec. 7
attack aboard the USS Curtis

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com

There is one less "unknown" buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

Using dental records, forensic specialists with the Army Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam Air Force Base have determined a sailor, who was buried under the headstone "Unknown," is Seaman Apprentice Thomas Hembree.

Hembree was one of 20 sailors killed on Dec. 7, 1941, while serving on the USS Curtis, a seaplane tender.

The Curtis was moored in Pearl Harbor's Middle Loch when the Japanese attacked and a bomb pierced its deck.

First lieutenant Ed Larosa, Hembree's great-nephew, said he was "very surprised" by the announcement.

Larosa said he always felt that the remains were those of his great-uncle, but it was nice to have it verified.

He said his great-uncle was from Kennewick, Wash., but he didn't know if his family would want him buried there.

Larosa and his wife Traci were at Punchbowl on Jan. 30, when representatives from the Army laboratory exhumed a grave that was believed to contain the remains of Hembree and Seaman 1st Class Wilson Rice, who could have been as young as 17 when he was killed.

Using dental records and other information Army forensic specialists determined that the remains did not belong to Rice, said Ginger Couden, Army spokeswoman.

She said Hembree's family members plan to visit the Army facility early next year to determine what will be done next.

Souden said based on eyewitness accounts there were three Curtis sailors who weren't accounted for after the attack. Several bodies were found, but they were burnt beyond recognition.

"One was later identified as Seaman 2nd Class Nickolas Ganas," she said.

That meant that remains they uncovered were either Rice's or Hembree's.

In all, 653 Pearl Harbor victims are buried at Punchbowl.

Army specialists also are trying to determine if another set of remains exhumed from Punchbowl belongs to Seaman 2nd Class William Goodwin, who was one of 1,777 sailors killed 60 years ago on the battleship USS Arizona.