RYAN; EDMUND THOMAS
UNITED STATES NAV
YWORLD WAR II
NJ
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank Y3
Service Number 2237737
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000014EFCxEAO

On September 15, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Yeoman Third Class Edmund Thomas Ryan, missing from World War II.

Yeoman Third Class Ryan, who entered the U.S. Navy from New Jersey, served on the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and was aboard the ship during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. He was killed in the attack, and while his remains were recovered from the ship following the incident, they could not be identified at the time. Y3 Ryan was then buried as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2015, modern forensic techniques prompted the reexamination and identification of Y3 Ryan's remains.

Yeoman Third Class Ryan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/1026982/sailor-missing-from-world-war-ii-identified-ryan/

News | Dec. 12, 2016

Sailor Missing From World War II Identified (Ryan)

Navy Yeoman 3rd Class Edmund T. Ryan, missing from World War II, has now been accounted for.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Ryan was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Ryan. No single vessel at Pearl Harbor, with the exception of the USS Arizona, suffered as many fatalities.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Ryan.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the NMCP for analysis.

DNA analysis and circumstantial evidence were used in the identification of his remains.

Interment services are pending.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/1258327/uss-oklahoma-sailor-killed-during-world-war-ii-accounted-for-ryan-e/

Press Release | July 26, 2017

USS Oklahoma Sailor Killed During World War II Accounted For (Ryan, E)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman unaccounted-for from World War II have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Navy Yeoman 3rd Class Edmund T. Ryan, 21, of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, will be buried August 2 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. On Dec. 7, 1941, Ryan was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Ryan.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Ryan.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the NMCP for analysis.

To identify Ryan’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA analysis, which matched family members, as well as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons, which matched Ryan’s records.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 73,046 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.