THOMPSON; WILLIAM MANLEY
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
State NJ
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank Ens
Service Number O-110159
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY RESERVE
https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XesuEAC

On November 28, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains Ensign William Manley Thompson, missing from World War II.

Ensign William Manley Thompson joined the U.S. Navy from New Jersey 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 afterwards, meaning they were part of the group of remains interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. However, modern forensic techniques were able to separate and identify Ensign Thompson's remains from the unknowns buried there.

Ensign Thompson is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/1146024/sailor-killed-in-world-war-ii-identified-thompson-wm/

News | April 10, 2017

Sailor Killed in World War II Identified (Thompson, W.M.)

Navy Reserve Ensign William M. Thompson, has now been accounted for.

Thompson, assigned to the USS Oklahoma, was killed Dec. 7, 1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Interment services are pending.

For more information on DPAA please visit our website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call 703-699-1420.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/1295952/funeral-announcement-for-uss-oklahoma-sailor-killed-during-world-war-ii-thompso/

Press Release | Aug. 31, 2017

Funeral Announcement for USS Oklahoma Sailor Killed During World War II (Thompson, W.M.)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Navy Reserve Ensign William M. Thompson, 21, of Summit, New Jersey, will be buried September 8 in Petersburg, Virginia. On Dec. 7, 1941, Thompson 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 Thompson.

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 Thompson.

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

DPAA is appreciative to the Department of Veteran's Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 73,022 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Thompson’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at an American Battle Monuments Commission site along with the other MIAs from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

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.

William M Thompson