BARBERTON, Ohio — Editor's Note: The above video is from a previously published, unrelated story
The remains of a Barberton sailor who died nearly 80 years ago during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced on Wednesday.
The agency said Navy Seaman 1st Class Buford H. Dyer, 19, was killed on Sunday, December 7, 1941. He was among the 429 who died on the battleship USS Oklahoma, which sustained multiple torpedo hits and quickly capsized during the air raid.
Dyer’s remains were identified through DNA testing as part of a federal Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) effort to identify those who were recovered from the USS Oklahoma.
Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma unknowns from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) for analysis.
To identify Dyer’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis. Dyer was accounted for on Aug. 5, 2021.
Dyer’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Buford H. Dyer will be buried on April 11, 2022 in Seville.
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