‘Unknown’ Sailors and Marines From the Battleship Arizona to Be Disinterred Dec. 7

Sailors, Marines killed during Pearl Harbor attack and buried as ‘unknowns’ to be exhumed for identification

An effort to confirm the identities of dozens of sailors and Marines killed during the 1941 attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, will officially get underway on the 85th anniversary of the Japanese attack that propelled the U.S. into World War II.

‘Unknown’ sailors and Marines from the battleship Arizona to be disinterred Dec. 7

The exhumations will begin with the disinterment of eight caskets from the National Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the “Punchbowl,” on Dec. 7, 2026.

Hundreds of USS Arizona families expected for Dec. 7 disinterment of WWII unknowns

On Dec. 7, the Defense Department will begin exhuming the caskets of 86 unknown sailors associated with the USS Arizona.