PRIBBLE; ROBERT LAMB
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
LA
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank FCM3
Service Number 2744607
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XgdIEAS

On December 2, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Fire Controlman Third Class Robert Lamb Pribble, missing from World War II.

Fire Controlman Third Class Pribble entered the U.S. Navy from Louisiana and served aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37). He was aboard the ship at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when it came under attack by Japanese aircraft and was one of the men killed when it capsized after being torpedoed. His remains could not be identified among those recovered from the ship afterward, meaning they were part of the group of remains interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Eventually, modern forensic techniques were able to separate and identify FCM3 Pribble's remains from the unknowns buried there.

Fire Controlman Third Class Pribble 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/1083727/uss-oklahoma-sailor-from-world-war-ii-identified-pribble/

News | Feb. 15, 2017

USS Oklahoma Sailor from World War II Identified (Pribble)

Remains of Navy Fire Controlman 3rd Class Robert L. Pribble, killed in the attack on the USS Oklahoma during World War II, have now been identified.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Pribble 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 Pribble. 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 Pribble.

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/News-Releases/Article/1242963/uss-oklahoma-sailor-killed-during-world-war-ii-accounted-for-pribble/

Press Release | July 11, 2017

USS Oklahoma Sailor Killed During World War II Accounted For (Pribble)

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

Navy Fire Controlman 3rd Class Robert L. Pribble, 19, of St. Petersburg, Florida, will be buried July 18 in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. On Dec. 7, 1941, Pribble 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 Pribble.

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 Pribble.

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 Pribble’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which matched a cousin, as well as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 73,051 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.